Recovery Unit 84
by Judg3m3nt
Summary: Recovery Units are special operatives sent to relocate and secure any lost personnel and equipment, along with performing clandestine operations. As such, they are well infamous within the Diamond Authority. But one withdrawn unit soon finds himself abruptly assigned on a mission to a former gem-controlled planet, abandoned over 5000 years ago.
1. Chapter 1: Weathered Beginnings

**This is my first story, so pardon any mistakes. Constructive Criticism is both accepted and appreciated.**

* * *

Chapter 1: Weathered beginnings

One glance throughout the ledge was enough for Unit 84 to tell that this apparent group were the first people to be here in a very long time. If anything, they may be the first to be in this entire star system. He knew that aside from the objective he wouldn't find anything of interest, especially being this far in the outer reaches of gem space. After arriving on the planet, he spent the last 4 hours trudging towards his objective.

Only after 4 hours of walking past the barren plateau and the occasional ravine, he finally saw his objective. An abandoned spire placed on a slanted hillside. Upon reaching the ledge, he began a quick look over of his surroundings.

It was a mess.

He counted at least 3 vehicles in total: 2 larger dropships (appearing to be armed) and what appeared to be a one manned hover bike. The latter of which would make the trip back home a lot easier, should he be able to learn the controls. All of these vehicles were surrounded by bodies, to which 84 counted at least 13 in total. It was then he noticed that they seemed to be armed with older variants of his own weapons. Yet, none of them seemed to have stood a chance against whoever they were fighting.

Remembering to follow protocol, he interacted with his visor's interface and activated his movement wave scanner.

Offered as an option, Recovery Units are able to use neural implants in order to interact and use displays in a more quick and efficient matter. Rather than having to look at his electronic wrist pad, the visor within his mask his fed with new forms of information that can be displayed to the wearer. In return they can also give basic instructions to the interface, such as use the communicator, check their objectives and use their sensors.

Movement Wave Scanners, are used to look over 100 metres in front of their field of vision. Through this scanner, they can look through walls and any other objects in their way as well as detect any form of movement. Upon activating this through a visor, users would see blue and white filter of their vision. This has been known to create short term side effects with a user's vision caused from prolonged usage.

Activating the scanner, he did a full sweep of the ledge. Looking through the vehicles and past the entrance, he found no forms of movement life.

 _Surprising to find this structure in the middle of nowhere_ , he thought. It made him wonder what gems used to do in these buildings in such a hollow planet. Something he has openly spoken against having to venture to, considering the amount of time and energy it takes for him to reach these locations on foot.

Focusing at the task at hand, he searched amongst the remains looking for his objective. He grunted, unsuccessful in his attempted search.

Just at that moment, it occurred to him that perhaps he should look over the remains once more, to look for any clues. Upon looking at the cluster of vehicles, he noticed something contrasting between the bodies. It was then, he noticed that they all seemed to be focused towards one general direction. And that direction was the entrance towards the structure.

At that moment, Unit 84 drew his phase rifle and steadied it to eye level as he entered. While this was not his preferred weapon, it was practical to use for this mission. His preferred weapons consisting of blaster pistols and bladed weapons would have deemed ineffective to use in this environment.

Fortunately, Recovery Units tend to keep a variety of weapons for multiple roles, so Unit 84 had not found himself entirely defenseless in long range situations.

Venturing further down the entrance, Unit 84 was greeted by a moderate amount of stairs. He then did another sweep with his scanner. No movement. Beginning his descent down the steps, he counted 3 more individuals lying further down. It was safe to say, that this has involved more people than Unit 84 may have predicted.

Upon reaching the last step, he took a look at his surroundings to find that he had entered what appeared to be rather large atrium. Further downwards, housed some sort of large pedestal. Either as a throne or a shrine, he could not determine.

Upon reaching the pedestal, was when he noticed the large abundance of what appeared to be excavation equipment strewn about in the atrium. Portable lights strewn about, along with other digging tools. He also saw numerous metal crates, all of them sealed. Walking up the steps to the platform, he saw many burn marks on the walls, likely caused by the weapons carried by these people. From what he could see, there was really large firefight in this structure.

Upon reaching the middle of the platform, 84 did a final look over across the room. Despite the fact that he had not seen any form of life ever since his arrival, he couldn't help but find it impossible that this structure was entirely abandoned. He did another sweep with his visor scanner throughout the entire atrium one last time. Satisfied that his suspicions were unsound, he finally looked down in front of him, only to find his objective.

He knelt forward, placing his rifle to the side in order to pick up his finding. In his hand laid a smooth, oval-shaped gem. It shone with the mixture of gold and red.

"Come in, Control. This is Recovery Unit 84."

The response was instantaneous. "This is Control. What is your status Unit 84? Have you located Agate?"

"Confirmed, she has been secured."

"And her status?" Control inquired.

Unit 84 glanced downwards to his hand, the gem in his palm. From a quick examination, he didn't seem to find any glaring cracks or missing pieces. "Gem appears entirely intact. No signs of any visible damage."

There was a pause, "Understood. Have you done a full preliminary sweep of the structure?"

"Already done." Despite the lack of need for it, "There's nothing exactly worth noting. Of course other than the dead personnel here." Unit 84 couldn't help but sound a little short in his tone.

Before he could be issued any more pointless protocols to follow, 84 quickly interjected, "I've already wrapped up and tagged the rest of the scene with my Tact-Feed. I've secured transport and I'm returning home."

84 barely had time to return to the ledge, before control's voice interjected, "Negative! You are to relocate to an alternate extraction site and await for further tasking."

You've got to be kidding? Another mission.

Unit 84 was about to give an exasperated response, until he paused upon a realization. Of all the things he took notice from Control's response, was the urgency within her tone. Even during conversations in the direst of situations, Control always spoke under a neutral and calm tone. Which means that something very serious has come up.

"Unit 84, confirm you have received the previous directive." Control demanded, now starting to sound more curt than urgent.

Oh, right. "Confirmed Control, go ahead."

"We have a level 5 emergency activated. Possible involvement of corrupted forms."

The severity and importance of a mission depended on the states of emergency. Ranging from 0 to 8, the highest levels are only reserved for the more experienced Units within any program. Unit 84 usually worked under level 4 and bellow, only once getting a level 5, now about to be twice. In fact, this mission was classified as a level 3.

As much as 84 was grateful for some genuine action between these dull assignments, he couldn't help but be skeptical about this sudden, new directive, "Level 5? Wouldn't that mission be better off reserved for a more experienced unit?" Of all people, why him?

"Negative 84. You are one of the nearest units to the objective area. This mission is extremely crucial and requires the more disciplined units."

Whether Control was flattering him or condescending him, 84 could only guess. Only, he knew that once control makes a decision, she sticks by it.

"You're to be assigned under another extraction vessel. We've already acquired 2 other Recovery Units for this assignment. You will rendezvous with them upon arriving at the extraction point. I've already uploaded the new coordinates to your interface."

84 then pulled out and activated his electronic wrist pad, to view his new objective. Upon unlinking them into his visor's display, he saw a clear view of the direction, distance and estimated time of arrival of the new location.

Under any normal circumstance, 84 would be extremely frustrated to find that his location is 2 hours longer south west that the distance that he took arriving here. Only that said circumstances do not involve acquiring a fully functional hover-bike. Needless to say, he really lucked out. Depending on its performance, he would make it to the objective in little to no time.

Before he launch into his own self-celebration, one question rang in his head: Does the bike even work?

Grabbing his rifle, he returned it to his back as he made a quick jog back to the ledge. Upon arriving, he did a quick examination on the bike and was glad to see no signs of damage occurred to it. Seating himself, he did a quick examination on the controls. Aside from the typical controls of a regular bike, there appeared to be some sort of screen on the bike, most likely to display its stats. Seeing no other button or switch, he simply tried placing his palm on the display.

Lo and behold, the entire bike surged to life, its display lit up, showing many green symbols appearing and disappearing. 84 assumed that it was attempting to boot up after its long period of inactivity. Before he could even attempt to read them, the bike abruptly jolts upwards, hovering about a couple feet off the ground.

After its hurried sequence, it soon lit up a new set of displays. There displayed what appeared to be measures of speed that it would go, which direction it's facing and other sorts of symbols, to what he suspected was to indicate the condition of the vehicle. It also spawned a miniature map at the bottom portion of the display, currently showing an arrow to represent the bike. The fact that the map was blank, could mean that it was intended to be used on previously-visited locations.

Confident that he can fully operate this vehicle, 84 took the handles and turned them downwards to accelerate. Unfortunately, what he did not take into account, was which direction the bike was facing.

In a sudden jolt, the bike sped off the ledge and plummeted off the structure, without any time for him to slam the brakes. 84 Was ready to brace for impact, but was surprised to find the bike's stabilisers cushion the impact on the hillside. Finding that his ride was still functional, he then accelerated again over the hillside. Guess control wouldn't have to worry much about him being late for the extraction.

At the mention of control, 84 suddenly realized that she was still on his communicator. He scrambled to put on a neutral tone, in hopes that she wasn't irritated on waiting for a response.

"Coordinates received, I've begun my departure."

"Understood. They will arrive about 2 hours from now. I've informed them that your distance will greatly delay your arrival." Doesn't sound like she's affected by this delay, which should be a good sign.

"Tell them they don't have to wait long. I'm on my way." Unit 84 transmitted before closing his connection with control, returning his attention to the newly acquired hover-bike.

Within minutes, he could barely see the structure in the horizon. The bike zoomed over the barren landscape in such record time. A quick look at the display, he saw that he was going over 130 miles per hour. And it didn't appear to be half of the speed it could go.

He could feel it all, the feelings from the bikes engine and the wind coursing past him. He loved it.

84 couldn't help but chuckle to himself, his overall mood had begun to improve. This mission might not have turned out so bad after all.

He could express so many things about this ride. The speed, the design or even the overall performance. Except out of all of them, only one thought crossed through his mind.

 _If control doesn't let me keep this, I'll be pissed._


	2. Chapter 2: Heavy Rain

Chapter 2: Heavy Rain

The trip to the rendezvous was uneventful, taking only a mere 30 minutes. Unit 84 couldn't help but wonder how the previous owner of this hover bike managed to control this thing, considering the close calls he had from crashing. Upon arriving at the extraction site, he had to spend a large portion of time arguing with the ship's crew about bringing what they called "Enemy Munitions" on board. He was barely able to win the argument by threatening to contact control, knowing about the crew's fear of disturbing their leader.

Entering the vessel, he finally met and acquainted himself to the other 2 Recovery Units assigned to this operation: Units 28 and 64. Unit 64 was one of the more conversationalist types within the organisation. If at all, 84 rarely interacted with him, but he has seen him with others and his performance record. There isn't exactly anything special about him based on his performance, other than the fact that he had failed at least 3 missions in the past. And yet, he is still allowed to serve in this unit. Inquiring on both of the units, 64 explained that before being called on this mission, he had just finished recovering a lost maintenance robonoid.

Unit 84 simply determined that they found him more of an expendable asset than a liability.

Unit 28, however, was a more experienced Unit, having been one of the earlier members to join the Organisation. Her skills surrounded more on marksmanship, possessing many projectile weaponry, most of them ranged. Based on her story, she was about to go on a training exercise, when she was called down to a level 5.

And this is where it didn't add up for him. Why be paired one of the most incompetent units along with a veteran on this assignment. Granted, he never had any problems working in groups. However, he along with many other Units found that working separately was more efficient and less time consuming.

After a good 2 hour flight in the vessel, they finally arrived at their destination. Unlike the last planet he visited, its surface spanned a lush and dense rain forest.

According to the vague briefing that Unit 28 received from Control, the planet once housed a old gem facility, its purpose unspecified. Apparently, several centuries ago, a rogue gem somehow became corrupted and overran the entire facility. Only then, the planet was left isolated with the gem presumed to have died off. Until recently, a few robonoids sent to the planet discovered a piece of vital gem component still intact. It was right after that discovery, that Control lost contact with the robonoids. The coincidences couldn't be more apparent.

While they were tasked with eliminating and securing the corrupted gem, Unit 28 emphasized their importance on finding the intact component. Much to Unit 64's chagrin, 28 did not fully specify what they were looking for. Clearly, unit 64 hasn't worked with these higher ranks before, but his current track record would explain why.

Having experienced working with experienced units, especially during the high risk operations, the only thing he get out of them are orders and updates on objectives. Otherwise, everything was on a need to know basis.

After the briefing, the crew began to assemble their gear and weaponry and made their way to the Loading deck. There, they met the second team, comprising of 4 other members. Their names were Delta, Theta, Sigma and their leader, Alpha.

While Recovery Units handled the full operation, they are usually accompanied by members of different organizations, usually during the high risk operations. These four were from a group called Special Operations Task Force, or SOTF. With this mission, they are tasked to provide over watch and fire support in the event they deal with any hostilities. This is excluding Sigma, who is tasked with locating and securing the package.

Unit 28 then rang the bridge, "How far out are we?"

"We're entering range of the facility now." The pilot reported.

"And how does it look?"

A pause, "A storm's brewing, for now I'm just trying to keep the ship stable."

The pilot took one good look at the surrounding area. With the combined rain and thick foliage, she barely managed to find the abandoned facility. The majority of it was already engulfed under the treeline, but the remaining parts of the building still managed to stick out.

Yet even that portion was too small for the ship to land on.

"There's really not that many places to land. Do you want to do this safe or close?"

Unit 28 weighed her options. By playing it safe, they would have to set the extraction zone at least 15 kilometres away from the objective, as per the protocol. It would guarantee safety for the pilot, while suffering the drawback of less support the team would receive as they are too far away. By going in close, it would guarantee immediate support at the great cost of endangering both the vessel and the pilot.

Instead, Unit 28 opted for the third option. Do both.

After her consideration, she communicated back to the pilot, "Just get as close to the compound as you can and keep a safe distance. We can take it from there."

The pilot ended off with a quick "Roger" before closing the channel. Taking another look at the area, she found a clearing a bit north from the facility. The pilot estimated the distance to be a good 2 kilometres. Nothing like a little walk could hurt. In the dark, wet, foggy forest.

While Unit 28 conversed with the pilot, 84 decided he take to time to do a final look over with his gear. He spawned the same appearance as the last mission. The sets of clothing, the combat vest, Armour, helmet and hood all stayed the same. Only thing changing was his choice of weaponry. Instead of taking his previous phase rifle, he opted for the more versatile blaster rifle to go along with his pistol.

Many weapons of Recovery Units differ by both their appearance and technology. Phase rifles focus more on firepower, while compensating for the low rate of fire and high energy consumption. Whereas, blasters offer more of a middle ground between power and reliability, along with more variety of models and customization options. One of the least used weapons, were arc projectors and pulse rifles, both of which relying more on fire and ammunition with the lack of general power.

Personally, he only stuck with blasters.

And from the looks of the crew, he didn't seem to be the only one.

Most of the team going with a similar load out: A rifle accompanied by a sidearm. One of them opted for a short barreled arc projector as an additional weapon, which would only be useful in close range.

The only thing standing out, was Unit 28 and her bringing a long range rifle for this mission.

At that instant, she had just finished her chat with the pilot and addressed the team.

"Looks like we're legging it. Its too dangerous to land on top of the facility, so the ship is going to land a couple of kilometres away."

Any feelings of displeasure from Units 84 and 64 would have been kept to themselves, but the members of the second team, save for Alpha, launched into a chorus of groans. Ignoring their complaints, 28 went to the side of the loading bay, and activated the latch release.

Out of perfect timing, the doors opened just as the vessel was landing in the clearing. At that instant the lights in the room flickered orange. At that instant the team began to disembark on the ramp.

Unit 64 along with the other Alpha, Theta and Delta were the first to leave. The formed a semi-circle around the ramp to secure the area. Upon confirming that the clearing was secure, Theta signaled the rest of the group to disembark.

Weapons drawn, Units 28, 84 and Sigma all went ahead of the ramp and past the first group. Heading further down the clearing, Unit 28 stopped and signaled the pilot that it can take off.

Her communicator then buzzed in.

"The storm's playing around with my sensors, I'm not going to be able to do any surveillance over the facility."

"Understood. Just focus on keeping the ship in one piece. We can handle it from here."

The pilot then paused. Unit 28 sure seemed a bit overconfident that the teams can manage without air support. But orders are orders.

"Roger that. Just radio in once you've returned to the clearing and I'll come pick you guys up."

The vessel began to ascent upwards, retracting it's loading ramp. Once it fully hovered the clearing, its thrusters roared back to life. Within seconds, the vessel flew out of the clearing and further upwards to the dark, pouring sky.

Sigma then took the time to usher the group towards him as he pulled out a from his equipment pack. Springing to life, it began to illuminate a holographic model of the clearing, facility and the large forest standing in the way.

Doing a quick readout, Sigma explained, "The facility is about 2.6 kilometres southwest from here. At this pace, it should take us at least an hour to reach it."

Unit 28 did a closer inspection of the map. Namely, the forest in the way of the clearing.

"That ridge line seems to give a straight shot to the facility. We can take that and circle around to the front entrance of the facility."

Unit 84 would normally just gone along with that plan proposed. That is, if he didn't find a significant flaw to it.

For the first time since meeting the group, he spoke up, "That ridge also seems to have a few cliffs in the way. Unless you guys mind climbing or breaking something, maybe we should look for an alternate route."

Alpha seemed to agree, "He's got a point. we could try just circling around the ridge and go down this hillside." He pointed at another part of the map, "It might take more time , but its better than having broken limbs."

Unit 28 nodded, "Good call. Alright lets take that route. I'm not in the mood to haul anyone tonight. Delta and Theta will take point, while being backed by Unit 64."

Those that were addressed complied, and began their descent down the wet hill, which is already pitch black from the wet foliage. Nothing, like illuminated vision with their visors wouldn't help.

With the first three taking point, followed Sigma, Alpha, Units 84 and 28 taking the rear. The latter of whom, would hold back from the group to provide some temporary long-range support. Sigma was focusing most of his attention to his holomap, while Alpha kept the young tech expert from making a bad step.

Unit 84, however, kept to himself and simply observed his surroundings. An old habit that he learned during training, was to get a good feel of both your surroundings and the environment that you were in. He could barely see anything distinct, even with the illuminated vision, but it was much better than having to converse with this group.

For nearly 2 hours it was like this, walking down the hillside in the same file. Occasionally, Sigma would give a update on which direction to turn and their current distance, but otherwise no other words were ushered.

For what it was worth, Unit 84 had to give those operatives credit. Knowing how they would act, they would have complained about the increased distance that they would have to walk. So far, they managed to keep their tongue altogether.

After passing over a small ridge, he heard Delta call out, "Found something."

It was a thin staff sticking out of the ground, standing almost 3 feet tall. On the tip, rested what appeared to be a spherical object.

Sigma examined it, "Its a beacon. They're usually placed on commonly used paths or roads, to keep people on the right track."

"Which means we're almost there", concluded Unit 28.

Sure enough, the group now saw that they were standing on a narrow trail. Looking down one direction, they could see at least 2 more of these "beacons", which lead vague outline of a structure.

Taking a glance at the beacon, Unit 64 inquired, "Is there anyway to power these things?"

Behind his visor, Sigma made a face of uncertainty, "I can probably light only one of them, with my holopad. But, the rest of them rely on a power grid. We'd be lucky if it can still work."

Instead, the group moved on until finally arriving at the front entrance of the facility, taking on the appearance of a courtyard.

Most of it was already covered in vegetation, but the outline of a fountain could be made. The steps, windows and walls were entirely covered and unrecognizable to the point where they had to rely on Sigma's holomap to find an entrance.

Upon finding it, Units 84 ,64 and Theta took the time to remove all of the vegetation trapping the front doors. Sigma then took the time to open an access panel to get the doors open with his holopad.

"It's all dead and there doesn't appear to be a manual release. I'm gonna have to allocate some energy from the holopad's battery to zap the door open."

Sigma then pulled out some a pair of wires from his equipment pack and connected them with both the holopad and the access panel. After a few tweaking with the settings, the holopad then transfers enough energy for the access panel to light up. In an instant, the door sprang to life and began to slowly open.

The entire team stood at the ready, rifles raised.

The door was barely able to open halfway before it stopped from both the lack of power and activity.

Regardless of it's state, the group had made it into the facility.

Walking into what would seem to function as a lobby, Unit 84 couldn't help but notice how pristine it was. No forms of vegetation was present and every part of the room looked untouched. It was as if someone had just cleaned the room and left. This place was abandoned for how long, again?

Sigma reopened the map, "There are a few routes that lead to the main atrium. But frankly, I think that reactivating the facility reactor would help us greatly in finding our objective."

Unit 28 nodded, "It's going to take up too much time to do everything one by one. Especially if we're altogether."

"So what're you suggesting?" Asked Unit 64, worried about the answer.

Unit 28 didn't even pause, "We split up."

* * *

They split into 2 groups.

Despite the continuous protest from the others, Unit 28 and Sigma had split off to retrieve their objective. Thus leaving the rest with new task: Reactivate the Facility's power generator.

With a quick trade of directions from Sigma on how to reach that area, the group had set off.

Seeing the same kinds of hallways and corridors over and over made Unit 84 wonder the lack of inspiration that was put into this place. Everything was the same, and for some reason, it was getting on his nerves. And the fact that everything looks untouched for this long does not ease him at all.

He truly hoped they get out of here before he lost his mind over some architects generic sense of style.

* * *

Unit 28 and Sigma ventured past the left wing of the facility, the former taking point. Sigma was too busy fixated on his HoloMap, telling her which direction to take. Eventually, he guided her to a series of adjoining hallways. Abruptly, he found himself colliding behind Unit 28, and nearly dropped his Holopad.

She had stopped.

Collecting himself, Sigma looked up and noticed that she was staring at a one of the hallways. The left side was fully displayed by one long window. Sigma looked at his HoloMap and realised that this wouldn't be the right way to go.

He then stood in front of Unit 28, her gaze not leaving the hallway.

"Uhh, we need to take a left over there."

He motioned to the opposite way.

As if she hadn't noticed him at all, Unit 28 slowly turned her gaze towards him. He couldn't see her face behind that helmet, but he was grateful for that. For some reason, that masked stare unsettled him, as if she was staring past his eyes.

Eventually she spoke, "I'm going have to go through those windows and get to the upper floors."

Sigma was stunned.

Was she seriously about to leave him behind. WHY?

He finally had the ability to speak, "Wh-what?! You can't just leave me here!"

"I'm not leaving you", she assured. "I 'm going to scout out for a bit. There's...something I need to check out."

Sigma really didn't know what was off. The fact that she was leaving him alone, or the fact that she couldn't justify why.

"I'm not going to leave you here. Just head to the objective and I'll come get you." Her tone was, remarkably soothing. To the point where Sigma couldn't decide whether to calm down or freak out.

Before he could say anything, she walked down the hall and broke a small part of the window. Climbing on the window sill, she reentered the rainy outdoors, and disappeared through the night.

Sigma was speechless. His commanding officer, just left him here on his own, just to check up on something she wouldn't even disclose. Gathering his bearings, he turned to the assigned route and made his was to his objective.

* * *

Unit 64 kicked the reactor, "What the hell! I thought we had enough to power this thing again."

Alpha then looked at the computer, "There's nothing wrong with it, one of the power junctions short circuited."

"And what does that mean?" Questioned Delta.

"The way power works here, is that its run by a grid. Each part of a grid is run by a power junction. The one that short circuited, is the one that is supposed to connect the reactor to all of the other junctions on the grid."

"So its like a power transfer?" Piqued Theta.

"Exactly."

Unit 64 inquired, "So how do we fix it?"

Alpha too the time to ponder this, "With old designs like this facility, my best guess is that there's an network of maintenance tunnels that all run underground. That's where the junctions are stored."

Delta looked surprised, "You seem to know alot about this stuff."

"Heh...well, when you work with Sigma more often, you tend to learn a few things." Alpha sheepishly retorted.

Unit 84 ignored the conversation taking place and took notice of a hatch resting right behind the generator. In the middle, rested a handle and another bar, labbled "Release".

"Well do you know how to get into these tunnels?"

*SCHINK*

The whole group turned to look behind the generator, only to see Unit 84 crouching down into the now-opened hatch.

Alpha chuckled, "That answer your question?"

Unit 84 climbed down the hatch, finding himself staring at pitch black darkness.

Activating his Illuminated vision, he could see an outreached tunnel stretching for a long distance.

He heard Alpha up top, "Alright this is how it'll go. Theta and Delta, you two go down with 84. 64 and I will remain here and try to get this reactor working."

 _Oh god, not these two._

As the 2 assigned operatives climbed down the ladder, Alpha called for them again, "You're looking for a large power junction. It'll at least twice as big as the other junctions you will see. Just follow the signs on the wall, they'll help you get there."

Unit 84 looked to the side and saw a series of signs depicting too many symbols for him to figure out. Guess they're going to have to got through this blindly.

* * *

Sigma finally reached the coordinates his HoloMap detailed for him.

Past the hallways and doors, he found what he the Holomap detailed as a test lab.

It was lengthy room. Tables stood in a neat order, littered by objects and samples too dark for Sigma to get a good look at. It looked as though people were just doing their routine of studying in their fields of research just as the corrupted gem attacked. components, electronics and containers laid scattered on the tables and the floor.

Venturing further down the room, he came across a large chamber resting in between 2 research stations. The large transparent door was fully breached, as if something had burst out of it. Peeking inside, he shone this light and saw what appeared to be a containment cell, its restraints broken and the bars of the cell smashed open.

It finally dawned to him. Whatever happened in this facility, what caused this incident to happen, all started here.

As of right now, he was stepping in ground zero.

Had there been any power, he would have accessed the derelict stations. Knowing that these researchers tend to keep logs on their work, he maybe would have been able piece together what had really happened. It would bring as useful Intel for Control to examine.

But since that is currently not an option, he returned to the abandoned stations.

In this place laid his objective.

 _Better start searching._

* * *

The more time they spent in these corridors, the more unease Unit 84 felt.

 _At least I'm not the only one that feels this way._

After spending nearly an hour here, they finally found the power junction. Getting to work, he pulled out his helmet light and began the diagnosis.

Taking a pause from his repairs, he turned around to see both Delta and Theta huddled around him, weapons pointed towards opposite sides of the tunnel. He could take the time to reassure them that they're safe for the time being, though it would be a fruitless attempt to ease their tension.

Or he could go back to his continued repair of the power junction.

After the longest period of deafening silence from the group, Delta finally decided to break the ice,

"Anyone here starting to find that something's up with the boss?"

"Nope." Responded Theta, who clearly was not in the mood to chat.

Delta turned, and stared at him incredulously, "Seriously? I'm actually the only one who can see everything that is starting to go wrong with this mission?"

"Yup." Theta stated, still not taking his eyes of his side of the tunnel.

"Well for the past 3 hours that we've spent on this planet, we have not even once heard or even seen this 'Corrupted Gem'. This could actually be a good thing, right?", Theta reasoned.

Delta found that point to have some merit, "Yeah, you're right for once, maybe it just got bored and left the place. This might not turn out to be so bad after all."

Unit 84 stopped. Personally, he had nothing against the differing organisations, if anything he found them to be fairly formidable allies. But one flaw they have, is how under trained they are in dealing with these kinds of threats.

And

Deciding to break his silent demeanor, he finally interject, "No, this a very bad thing."

Both Delta and Theta stopped in their tracks and stared at Unit 84. "Wait, you can TALK!?", Exclaimed Delta.

Theta hissed for Delta to 'shut up' and then asked, " What do you mean its a bad thing?"

"Corrupted gems NEVER leave their home. If anything, they grow even more attached to it, to the point of being fully territorial."

"You guys have done a thorough scan on the planet, right? How many indigenous species live in this region?"

Theta thought for a minute before answering, "Uhhh, about a few actually. Most of them carnivorous."

Unit 84 then turned to Delta, " Do you guys know what animals like to do with abandoned structures?"

"Make homes out of them."

"Right, so how many of these creatures have you seen, ever since we arrived at the facility?"

Theta and Delta tried to remember how many of these animals that they came across. Then that's when it clicked to them. They haven't.

Already picking up on their realization, Unit 84 continued, "This corrupted gem has been isolating in this facility for centuries, so anything that it would come across would immediately perceive as a threat. So these animals got the idea to stay away from this place."

"Well, that would make sense. But if its still here, why hasn't it attacked us already. By know it should have already known that we were here."Theta then joined in, "And to be fair, it already had a few opportunities where it could have attacked us by surprise"

"You're right, it have every chance it could get to take us all out."

The question is, why hasn't it already?

Unit 84 seemed to have a feeling.

"I think we're dealing with a rather intelligent enemy. And I get the feeling that it was once a gem who knew every room and corridor in this facility."

Delta looked confused, "It may explain why we haven't seen it. But it doesn't explain why its not attacking."

Connecting the last wire, the readout service panel lit up green as the emergency lighting activated. Before Radioing Alpha about the finished repairs, he instead answered Delta's question first.

"Same reason it didn't attack us when we arrived."

* * *

 _"It's hunting us one by one."_

After what seemed like an eternity, Sigma found a sealed storage container, the words "Restricted to administrative personnel" etched across the lid. He was about to pull out his welder, when he noticed that the seal was already broken. Odd.

Ignoring this, he averted his attention back to the task at hand and opened up the container to view its contents

Instead of finding it empty, he found what appeared to be a long hexagonal container.

On the sides were hexagon shaped windows, illuminating a neon green glow.

Anxious about the what he was looking for, Sigma slowly turned the top hatch of the container and pull it up wards.

Inside was a small stack of rectangular capsules. Some of them being the cause of the green illumination, while others remained dark.

Looking through all of the capsule designations, he found it.

He pulled out the capsule, designated THR/S-01. Unlike the other capsules, this one glowed a rather orange like color.

He breathed a sigh of relief. He finally completed the objective and they can now go home.

"Come in Unit 28. I found it."

*brrzzzzzttt*

Confused, he opened his holopad to boost the signal. Except he found that the signal itself was fully broadcasting on a strong signal.

He tried again, "Unit 28, are you there? I've located the objective."

*brrrzzzzttt-Unders-zzzttt-yo-zztt*

"Come in? You're breaking up."

*brrrzzzzttt-stood, Sigma. Can you read me?"

The quality was already weak, but functioning nonetheless. It must have been on her end of the Com.

"Barely. I've located what we were here for. I'm waiting for further orders."

There was a pause before an answer came, "I hear you. Secure it in the pack and STAY where you are. I'm have your position and I'm heading there now."

"Alright. I'll wait for you." He buzzed off.

The last thing he was looking forward to was staying in this ominous place any longer, when there's a corrupted gem monster running around this place. Most of these feelings were already washed away, however, when the room's lights began to light up. He then found consolation that he wouldn't have to stay long, not to mention his help is on the way.

Securing his combat pack, he drew his rifle, sat next to the capsule container and listened for anything down the corridor, hearing sounds oddly resembling someone scratching metal.

* * *

Retracing their steps, they made their way back to the hatch from where they originally entered, a much easier task now that the lights were on. In addition, Theta actually had an impressive sense of direction and was able to remember which corner they turned and which tunnel they came from. After 20 minutes of walking, they came across what appeared to be a rather large ventilation platform, it's fans remaining dormant.

Apparently, this was was something new to the group, because none of them remember every seeing it during their original venture down these tunnels.

Delta then suggested, "Maybe we took a wrong turn. Pretty much everything down here looks the same."

At that instant, Theta stared at Delta, "What're you implying?"

He may have been slow, but Delta managed to detect the icy tone behind Theta's voice.

Unit 84 deadpanned, having enough of these petty arguments that have been pestering him since they entered down the tunnels. He turned to stare at the two operatives, "Really, is this all you ever do, just sit and argue with each other? Honestly, what would have happened if it was just you 2 sent down here? Do you two ever get anything done?"

Delta turned to him indignantly,"Of course we do, this is just our way of working. Stop screwing it up."

Unit 84 snapped his head towards Delta to give a retort, when a spider-like leg burst out of the platform and threw him across the tunnel.


	3. Chapter 3: Aftershock

**Sorry for the delay. I've been having a lot of revisions put into this chapter, along with having to balance my time working on this story along with work and studying.**

 **Fortunately, chapter 4 is nearly done so you it should be released very soon.**

 **Hope the chapter was worth the wait.**

* * *

Chapter 3: Aftershock

Unit 84 had woken up to the sounds of Delta screaming.

"MOVE! NOW!"

Shaking himself awake and he found himself slammed into a wall, with his rifle out of sight. His Interface was flashing a warning on his medical status, appearing to have suffered a couple of fractured ribs.

Delta and Theta were unloading a barrage of blaster fire on the corrupted gem. An effective tactic, if the shots would actually penetrated the gem's thick armor. The 2 operatives slowly backed away from the gem, while continuing to aimlessly fire onto it.

Problem with this tactic, is that the purpose was that the target would eventually succumb to the continuous fire. Except not only was it not working, but that the 2 operatives are completely wasting their ammunition.

And from the looks of it, the only thing they're accomplishing is pissing the corrupted gem off.

Getting on his feet, 84 grabbed his discarded rifle and tried to yell at the pair.

"STOP! You're only pissing it off, firing like that. Conserve your energy rounds and pull back. I'll cover you."

The 2 operatives stopped their continuous of fire for a second in response to 84's sudden command. Seconds leaving them exposed. Enough time for the corrupted gem to lash out with one of it's pincers and pierce Delta in the leg. Delta screamed from shock and pain, falling down the ground with the pincer stuck in his leg.

 _Dammit._

He did however, have one option left.

But he was unsure if the result won't harm the group in this enclosed tunnel.

He pulled out one of the 3 collapse charges that he carried and armed the handle. Because once he let's go, the group had better be long gone or the corrupted gem won't be the only thing that will kill them.

Collapse charges were special type of grenades that operated similar to high explosive detonators. The difference, being the explosive compound that it uses and the type of explosion that it creates. Upon detonation it pounces up from the ground and uses a seismic amplifier to create an extremely devastating blast. Without the need for explosive residue, the force wave from this amplifier has been known to eradicate anything standing in it's radius. It has been described by many users how it makes an orange halo ring up on its second phase.

Knowing that they wouldn't last a second running away without any cover, 84 threw the charge at the corrupted gem and ran. He grabbed Delta and screamed to Theta to "RUN".

Before the Gem had found out what the 3 soldiers were doing, it's vision was blinded by a orange ray of light.

*BWWWWWWWWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMM-BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM*

* * *

They ran as far as their legs could take them. They barely managed to escape the radius, having nearly been knocked back from the force of the blast.

"Where are we going?" Delta yelled over 84's shoulder.

"There's a another maintenance access hatch." He looked at his Interface locator. "It's about 50 metres."

"IT'S GAINING!" Theta called out from behind.

They're almost there. "40 metres."

"We can make it." 84 interrupted, refusing to slow down.

Reaching 30 metres, they could already see the ladder further down the tunnel. With the restored power, they could see the light from outwards shine down the ladder, further illuminating it in the dark.

Theta stood behind. "I'll keep you guys covered. Just get Delta out of here, and I'll be right behind you."

Even in pain, Delta at least put an effort it his rush to climb the ladder. While Theta kept firing down the way they came, 84 simply went after Delta in order to keep the latter from falling off.

Fortunately, that fear was unsound, as Delta successfully climbed to the top and out of the hatch. He reached down to help 84 up.

As 84 reached out to accept the gesture, he heard a creaking sound resonated from the ladder that he was coincidentally standing on.

The second he bolted upwards to grab Delta's arm, the ladder had collapsed under him.

Theta heard the noise and stopped firing, to look up at the hatchway, and moved away just before the top portion of the ladder landed on him.

He returned under the hatchway and saw that the top portion of the ladder had fallen off. Without it he wont be able to conventionally climb out. And there's now way in hell that he'll be able to find another way out.

The roars of the corrupted gem nearing was enough of an indication of what Theta's fate may be.

* * *

In his haste to get Delta out of the tunnels, Unit 84 never stopped to remotely think about the stability of the ladder. The centuries of inactive use and the added weight was practically setting the ladder up to break.

And only seconds before happening did he remember.

Barely within seconds, was he able to grab Delta's arm and hoist himself out of the hatch when the ladder that he was specifically standing on had collapsed.

He looked down and saw Theta staring up at him.

It was then he realized that the gap that separated 84 and the rest of the ladder was small enough for Theta to jump and grab hold of him.

Mirroring what Delta had previously done, he reached into the hatch and stretched his arm for Theta to reach. "Climb up and grab my arm. I'll pull you up." 84 called out. "HURRY!"

Wasting no time, Theta climbed up the remaining portion of the ladder. Only when he reached the end, he did a leap and successfully latched onto 84's arm.

Nodding approvingly, 84 hoisted Theta up

*CRRRRUUUNCHH*

Behind his helmet, no one would have been able to see the look of horror on Theta's face. But 84 knew exactly what that sound was.

The corrupted gem had sunk it's jaws on Theta's abdomen.

It took several seconds for the realization to register on Theta.

And that's when the screaming started.

* * *

No matter how much strength he had put, Unit 84 could not pull out Theta from the closed jaws of the Corrupted gem. And the later screaming bloody murder was not helping.

Despite the tenacity he had put into trying his comrade out, 84 was struck with a harsh reality.

There is no way he can save Theta.

Even if he was able to pull him out from the corrupted gem's jaws, all that would accomplish is literally half of an operative. In fact, getting the gem to let go would leave Theta suffering from severe hemorrhaging as its teeth had ruptured his internal organs. He'd be dead within moments.

And 84 knew that the more time he's going to spend on a lost cause, the more time the corrupted gem has to finish Theta and focus back 84 and Delta.

84 had to make a choice.

Despite his intentions, the only thing he said to Theta was what sounded like an insincere "Sorry" as he loosened his grip.

The only reply he got from Theta was a nod, as he pulled out his slung blaster rifle. He knew that his time had come, and was ready to accept this fate. But that did not mean he would openly embrace it.

He might not know it now, but 84 was about to make a choice that will come back to haunt his memories later on.

He let Theta go.

* * *

Theta wasn't afraid.

He wished he had originally told Unit 84 to let him go, but the words could not form in his mouth. Probably the unbearable pain coming from the sinking jaws into his torso might have had something to do with it.

He knew that his time has come.

Recovery Units rarely show emotion or remorse, but he knew that the choice that 84 made will haunt him for life. Despite the half-assed sorry he gave.

If he wasn't wearing a helmet, 84 would have seen the grin on Theta's face in response to his "apology".

But this choice will save more lives than to stay behind and save no one. And he hoped that 84 will soon remember that.

As he fell, he spent the rest of his drained energy to take aim to the dreaded creature that latched onto his body and fired. Never letting go of the trigger until he could only hear a click.

* * *

The muffled sounds of blaster fire and screaming barely managed to pass through the the sealed hatch way.

Unit 84 slumped back, tired from the hasty sealing of the hatch and the strength that was spend, vainly attempting to save Theta's life. He looked over and saw that Delta wasn't faring any better.

Aside from his leg injury, he seemed to be in shock from the events that had just transpired seconds ago. His long-time comrade was viciously killed in front of him, and both he and 84 could barely do anything to save him.

Despite the understandable amount of pain that Delta must have been going through, 84 couldn't help the desire to get Delta back on his feet. There is no telling how long the seal can hold the corrupted gem and they have yet to contact the rest of the team.

Without a word, he hoisted Delta to his feet and carried him down the hall. Hopefully he can find the rest of the team before the corrupted gem does.

* * *

Units 64, 28 and Alpha were running through one of the hallways, attempting to find an open area to contact Jade. After the power came on to the facility, attempts to contact the team downstairs were met with static. Apparently reception inside these tunnels do not seem to fare well.

While they were confident that the 3 members could handle themselves, these feelings were washed away from the slight vibration of an explosive going off underground. Unit 64 noted it as a collapse charge. Realizing that the group was in trouble, the 2 set off to look for Unit 28.

After several failed attempts of contacting her, they resorted to heading to where she and Sigma were supposed to be.

While that proved to be a challenge with a lack of a map, they did however get help from the building's sign's depicting numerous symbols. After running around the same corridors for nearly an hour, they found Unit 28 carrying whatever it was they were here for.

While 64 was immensely happy to see 28, she however did not appear to reciprocate the feeling. Once he came face to face, he understood why.

In one hand she carried the capsule, but in the other hand was a Holopad.

And 64 knew that only one person in this group would carry one.

* * *

Unit 84 ran as far as he could, with Delta in tow. By the time the corrupted gem had burst past the sealed hatch, they were long gone.

But that didn't mean it couldn't give chase.

84 had to give credit to the fact that Delta was not a particularly heavy passenger, despite the fact that he would most likely lift 3 times Delta's weight.

 _Working through the pain._

As 84 had neared the corner, a set of arms shot of an open door, grabbing both him and Delta. Neither had a second to react or even make a sound as they were snatched into a dark room.

Despite it being hard to see, 84 understood that they were safe. Alpha and Unit 64 set the newly arrived soldier down and made their way further down the room. Unit 28 remained at the end, examining the Holomap of the facility.

For the first time since leaving the tunnel, Delta had spoken to Alpha. "Theta's gone." His voice was calm,but a trace of sadness could be heard.

Ignoring the two, he looked around the room he was pulled into. From the looks of things, it appeared to be some sort of office. Desks laid about, chairs toppled over and computer screens flickering dead. He then laid his eyes on 28, who was fixated on one of the desks furthest to him.

Something was not right. Why was 28 using Sigma's Holopad, with the former absent. While the answer was obvious, he couldn't help but ask.

"Where's Sigma?" 84 simply asked.

The lack of a response from 28 was an adequate answer for him.

The group spent the next 10 minutes collecting their bearings. 28 had taken a break from her examination of the Holomap to see what the group was up to. Despite the lack of medical supplies, Alpha managed to treat Delta's injured leg to at least prevent an infection and further pain. 64 was reexamining and maintaining the weaponry of each operative, checking that nothing would break on them.

And where was 84?

Through the dark, she barely managed to find him slouched against the wall in a passive stance. Whether he was sleeping or just keeping quiet was anyone's guess.

Deciding that enough time had passed, she ushered the group to huddle around the Holomap, as she laid out the plan she had spent the time forming.

"Here's what we're going to do." Explained 28, regaining control of the situation. "The Gem does not know why we are here for, so that can be used to our advantage. While we engage it, one of us is going to take this capsule and signal Jade to come pick it up."

"Jade?" Delta asked.

"Our pilot. The one who flew us in." 28 curtly answered.

"So who's up for the task?" Alpha asked.

28 didn't even need to decided. "Delta."

"WHAT! Why me?" His response incredulous.

One thing that Recovery Units have been known for, is that they can be painfully blunt to whoever they speak to. "Face it, you're near useless in combat. You can only remain stationary, which makes you a sitting duck once the enemy turns it's attention to you."

"On the plus side." She continued. "You wouldn't have to go far. The storm's just about let up, meaning Jade can land her ship just outside of the facility."

"She's right." Alpha agreed. "The gem would be too focused on us, while you can make a break for the vessel. If worst case scenario we all fail, you can at least get objective done."

Delta could not even believe that he was considering this. The biggest issue for him was not the plan itself, but the fact that he might be leaving these people to save himself. He already lost a close companion, and now he's just about walked into another circle.

Besides, weren't Recovery Units known to be near invincible? They'll get the mission done, right?

Right?

After a moment of silence, Delta finally accepted. "Okay, I'll do it. Give me the container and I'll get it out of here."

Pleased with his response, 28 handed the container to Delta. "Stay by the side entrance of the courtyard and DO NOT leave until I give you the signal. We're going to keep the corrupted gem at bay, while you make your run to Jade." 28 instructed. "We'll buy you all the time we can get."

Delta's response was interrupted by a distant howl echoing the barren facility. "We don't have much time." Alpha said. "It's tracking us."

Reading their weapons, the team began to exit the room with Delta taking the rear.

 _I hope this was worth it._

* * *

Delta limped his way through the familiar parts of the facility, the capsule hanging by his belt.

As per 28's instructions, he waited by the edge of the courtyard, trying to keep out of the corrupted gem's line of sight, the latter having just been lured there. At the signal of 28, the rest of the team sprung about, taking the corrupted gem by surprise and pelting it with blaster fire.

He didn't even look back when he dashed for the entrance.

 _Why did I agree to this? WHY DID I AGREE TO THIS?_

Nearing the lobby they originally entered, he took the time to radio in the pilot, "Jade, do you copy? This is operative Delta requesting for immediate extraction." The lack of response prompted him to yell, "Jade, are you there?! I need immediate extraction, NOW!"

His communicator came to life, "Delta, I read you. Whats going on down there? Have you secured the objective."

"I have whatever the hell it is Control sent us here to get, but I need to get it out of here. The area is compromised."

Jade cursed as she descended the vessel towards the facility,"Roger that, the storm's cleared up, I can see the lights from the facility, I'm going to try and land at the main entrance. ETA 40."

She sent the vessels thrusters at full speed, zooming over the treeline and nearing the objective zone. If its as bad as Delta says and the mission is compromised, she needs to get them the hell out of there.

Delta exclaimed, "WHAT, 40? You mean minutes?!"

How far away is she?

"NO, SECONDS!", She yelled back.

He bolted past the familiar lobby, and out to the courtyard fountain. He barely made it down the steps, having tripped one too many times from his injuries. Before he could scream for Jade, the vessel suddenly mystified over him. The force of the thrusters strong enough to brush away a lot of the vegetation covering the building.

Delta quickly got up and sprinted to the ship, pulling out the container in one hand. The hatch opened moments before the ship touched the ground, with 2 crew members stepping out to greet him.

* * *

Jade had to give herself some credit. She did make a pretty perfect landing, especially going under that speed and in such a narrow opening. She preemptively readied her crew-mates to arm themselves and open the hatch.

Looking out of her view-port, she saw Delta heading for the building.

And just Delta.

She started to get anxious. Where are the others? He mentioned "We" on the com, so why is he the only one there.

She opened up her communicator to contact Delta to find out what was going on. He's going to have a lot of questions to answer.

As she opened the channel, an thundering explosion rocked the roof of the facility.

Now she was absolutely freaking out.

* * *

Delta barely made it to the vessel before collapsing on the ramp, finally worn out. One of the crew members, Green Beryl went to Delta's side and was about to pick him up and carry him into the vessel, when a nearby explosion went off. Shocked, Delta barely managed to mutter an "Oh no", before he was lifted past the ramp.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?" Screamed Jade.

Delta didn't respond, instead he jabbed the container into Green Beryl's hands and limped his way to the weapons bench. He began searching for a spare med pack, when Jade Yelled into his Com again.

"DELTA, WHAT WAS THAT? WHERE ARE THE OTHERS?"

"I need a payload." Delta stated abruptly, finding the pack.

There was a pause, before she answered,"What? Why?"

"Its the corrupted gem. Its tearing them apart and our weapons are doing nothing against it."

He pulled out 2 adrenal stimulants, removing the covers.

"We need more firepower.", He demanded as he injected the stimulants into his injured leg, its effects being near instant.

She couldn't believe she was saying this, but, "Then the mission is compromised. Let's go."

Delta shook his head, "NO! I'm not leaving them. They're still holding out and I can save them. WE can save them."

"How can you know they're still alive? For all we know they could have just been slaughtered."

Delta couldn't believe he was actually arguing about this.

"How could I know? LOOK OUTSIDE YOUR WINDOW! That should serve enough of an example."

Jade wanted to believe him, she really did. She probably wouldn't forgive herself if she left behind her comrades when she had the chance to save them. And yet, she was still divided by protocol and morality.

She has to make a choice.

"What do you need and how much of it?" She gave in.

With a sense of renewed vigor from the packs, Delta loaded his newly acquired rifle and answered, "EVERYTHING you have!"

* * *

The explosion had thrown both Unit 84 and Alpha back, leaving them both incapacitated. The latter was knocked out cold, meaning he won't be of any use in this fight. Unit 84 however, was barely clinging on consciousness. He tried to do a readout on his state of health, but nothing seemed to display on his was when he had realized that nearly half of his visor was completely shattered open.

Exposed to the open air, he turned his left eye to see Units 64 and 28 standing their ground, continuing to fire vainly against the gem monster.

The gem was significantly disoriented and from the looks of it, had appeared to have injured and lost its front right leg. Because it need its front legs to balance, it staggered while trying to charge at Unit 28 with great difficulty.

After pointing out the type of Gem that they were dealing with and its sensitivity to the collapse charge that he used, 28 came up with the plan to lure it towards a laid set of Collapse charges. All of which were donated by a generous Alpha, who for some reason carried nearly a dozen of them.

The plan was to fire at the gem from all angles, disorienting and confusing the creature. By moving in closer, they essentially herded the thing to moving closer to their trap. Unfortunately, the gem eventually collected its bearings and attempted to attack both 84 and Alpha just as it fell into the out radius of the charges, setting them off prematurely. The blast however, proved to be more dangerous as they anticipated, and blew it along with both Alpha and 84 back, incapacitating both soldiers.

Brushing the pieces of rubble off of him, he groggily sat upwards, attempting to ignore the pain coming from his sides and abdomen. Barely succeeding, he took a good look at his hand. The gloves were mostly torn or burnt off. He could see cuts and dirt had already formed under the exposed parts of his hands.

He turned to his companion's limp form. "Alpha?" He called out. His voice no louder than a whisper.

As he would expect, no response came from the motionless leader.

Rather than waste his breath attempting to call out his comrades over the ongoing battle, he tried to radio them. Since his interface is disabled, he resorted to using his wrist pad, which was thankfully untouched from the previous events. Switching it on, he opened a channel to all frequencies to hopefully radio anyone that is listening in. However this was dashed when he saw a warning flash on the screen, the words "No signal" displayed.

Which means that his Communicator was out as well.

He began to dig through the rubble for his rifle, hoping that it was still functional. In the middle of his search, he found a weapon's stock sticking our under some building debris. Pulling it out, he assessed the damage of his newly acquired weapon.

It was completely covered in dust, looking worn and tattered. It's sight being a modest scope was partially dented, with the lens completely shattered. Despite the low quality appearance it adorned, 84 knew that these issues would not fully hinder the rifles performance (besides the need of a sight). Instead, he focused more on the inside of the weapon.

He turned it over on its right side and looked at the the ejection port, namely the manual release bolt. The rifles battery charge was jammed inside the port, blocking the release bolt from fully closing. Battery charges serve as the ammunition of blasters, being the power source for the weapon to convert into blasts of energy to fire. Once it is empty or on low amount of power, the user uses the manual release bolt on the the right side of the rifle to eject the spent battery and replace it with a new one. Such as the rifle in 84's hands, some blasters are able to carry clips of spare battery packs as reserve ammunition. This allows the user to replace the used battery and charge in a new one within seconds.

Taking the bolt, 84 attempted to free the trapped pack. This proved to easier said than done, as the bolt failed to move an inch. It looked as if the bolt had fused with the battery pack, which was not uncommon. The bolt finally pulled back and ejected the clip, a narrow rectangular object with a thick ring shaped port on the tip, in order to transfer the power to the weapon. Just as he ejected the clip, Unit 84 then realized why the bolt was stuck.

The battery pack had overheat.

Fully firing the battery nonstop to the point of depletion has been known to cause the weapon to overheat, which can damage the weapons systems. To prevent this, a design was implemented to transfer the heat back to the battery pack. This is what causes depleted batteries to take a burnt red form. Because of this safety measure, it is heavily advised to not touch these packs as they can cause severe burns to unprotected hands.

Unit 84 examined the blaster rifle's port for any damages, when he noticed a blue luminescent liquid starting to drip from the bolt.

 _Don't tell me..._

Touching the liquid with one finger, he felt a cold sensation starting to take effect followed by it warming up upon moving to the whole port itself.

He knew that liquid could only come from one thing.

Careful not to burn the exposed spots on his ripped gloves, Unit 84 snatched the pack that he had just dislodged from the rifle. Despite using his gloves, the pack still burned past the fabric and onto his hands, but he ignored the pain. Instead he focused his attention to what he had feared to find.

The battery back had a large crack on its side, most likely caused from the release bolt. And within the crack was leaking the liquid that he had just found in the rifle's port. This was the last thing he would have dreaded to find on any pack.

Because of the heat being transferred to the battery pack, it wouldn't be a surprise if the rising temperature caused an explosive reaction. Which is why each battery pack contains a small capsule of liquid coolant in order to keep the temperature in a safer range until it is finally ejected from the port.

Ironically, liquid coolant is both flammable and a high conductor of electricity.

And if it manages to leak into either the clip or the energy converter itself, the results can be extremely fatal for a ill-fated user.

Basically, the rifle is for a fact incapable of being used because of this leak.

 _Are you kidding me?_

He discarded the rifle to his side, which left only his side arm as a viable weapon. But if his rifle wasn't even able to properly affect the corrupted gem, his pistol obviously couldn't finish the job either.

He could try searching for Alpha's rifle through the rubble. Except the slim chances of finding it, nevermind that it would be properly functioning seemed to dissuade him from trying. Plus, his hands are sore from looking for his rife the first time. That's when it dawned on him.

Alpha's arc projector.

Slowly staggering onto his feet, he limbered to where Alpha lay, seeing his Arc projector still clinging onto his back and intact. He began to move Alpha as slow and steady as he can, taking into account the amount of injuries that he may have.

With Alpha resting on his side, Unit 84 released the weapons buckle and removed the projector.

Unit 84 was well aware about the basic functions of an Arc projector, only that was the main reason why didn't use it. Unlike the many ranged weapons used by Recovery Units, Arc Projectors are the only projectile weapons to literally fire projectiles. Despite certain advantages on power, it severely lacked on accuracy and range.

But through all of this, 84 knew that prior to arriving on the planet, Alpha had customized the weapon to fire rounds with additional piercing damage. Something that may prove extremely effective against the Corrupted Gem's thick plating.

The thought of the gem reminded him to look back to see how Units 28 and 64 were doing.

During his quest to find a working weapon, he had failed to notice the fact that the 2 Units had fallen back into the facility. The Corrupted Gem was too big to fit in the narrow doors, prompting Unit 64 to fire from one of the windows next to the door, while Unit 28 stood on the roof to fire down upon her entrapped enemy. Facing an unreachable enemy on the high ground, the gem simply resorted to attacking 64.

Unit 84 looked to see how much ammunition the projector carried, finding 8 shots chambered. Given the handle, and the cycling system of rounds, the projector was a pump action weapon. Only that another customization that Alpha had was to make it fire semi-automatically.

He then looked through his combat vest, pulling out only 2 Collapse charges. As powerful as they are, wasting them on the gem would be useless and would give his position away.

And that gave him an idea.

Why try and attack the gem, when it can attack him. Looking around, he saw one of the courtyard's exits was partially blown away, forming a narrow but sizable hole for the corrupted gem to fit in.

Now determined to save his comrades he began to limp to the hole as fast as he could, setting his plan into motion.

* * *

This mission had turned out to be a disaster.

Unit 28 ejected a spent battery pack from her rifle, as she went through predicament of her current situation through her head.

Already 2 of her operatives were dead, the third one is anyone's guess if he made it and they had just lost 2 more.

And now she was stuck on the upper floor of the building with low ammunition and high fatigue.

Looking through the scope, she shifted her focus on where Unit 84 and Alpha remained. Both were still motionless.

She exhaled sharply, praying to whatever spiritual entity out there that they were still alive. Especially regarding Unit 84.

Losing any Task Force operative was still bad enough, but would not entirely devastate anyone, even the unit from which they came from. Losing a Recovery Unit was something else entirely, however.

 _Especially one who has yet to prove himself._

From working with many Recovery Units, she has found many distinct characteristics that define one from another. Yet from what she has seen, Unit 84 was a rather unique individual to say the least. While some Units tend to keep quiet, others would be more vocal and outspoken. The only similarity is that both groups have managed to gain their own individual reputation.

Unit 84 however, she saw as a grey man. Only once has she heard of him and that was during his enlistment into the Recovery Program. Despite her connections between other members, she rarely heard anything about his missions, nor had even met him in person. She had almost forgotten that they still had a "Unit 84" when she was tasked with him on this mission.

Needless to say, she rather liked that quality.

Collecting herself from her thoughts, she noticed a lack of fire coming from below.

Hoping that 64 hadn't died, she radioed in. "64, how's it going? You still alive?"

His first response was a humorless laugh,"Barely. I'm down on 3 battery packs. Don't think I'll last long"

 _Damn_

She was already on her last 2 battery packs, the second one already on the verge of depletion. She estimated that she could get at least 2 more shots from it.

This is now getting from bad to worse.

So far these weapons have done a good of keeping it back, but has done practically no damage through it's armored plating.

If this Gem is as smart as 84 had mentioned, it will figure out that they have exhausted all of their ammunition and would find a way around their position and overtake them.

Unless they get ammunition soon, they are definitely not going to last very long.

* * *

Finishing with his setup, Unit 84 crawled out of the exposed opening and watched the ongoing battle.

The charges were set opposite from one another, each on the left and right side. Both were set on motion, meaning that they will automatically detonate upon instant detection of movement.

Now for the tricky part.

While Unit 84 had already planned out how to kill the corrupted gem, he still had not figured how to not only get its attention, but lure it to the trap without getting brutally slaughtered.

Knowing that the projector would be useless against long range targets, he slung the weapon to his side. At the very least he could pull it out at an easier pace. He then drew his blaster pistol. Given the fact that he had not fired it once, he shouldn't have to worry about running out of shots.

Chances are, he'd be dead before going dry.

Not that it really bothered him.

 _Nothing ventured, nothing gained._

He knew the risks of this assignment, and he knows for a fact his fellow units won't last long unless he does something.

Sauntering away from the trap, he leveled the pistol and took aim.

* * *

Unit 28 had just loaded her last battery pack.

She

Until several green bolts of energy kept hitting the back of the corrupted gem.

It was definitely not 64 since he remained in his usual spot.

Unable to make out who it was, 28 lined up her sight.

Her face switched from confused to outright shock.

It was Unit 84.

And he's firing AT THE CORRUPTED GEM!

What the hell is he doing!

"Boss, what was that?" Unit 64 piqued in, also having heard the shots. Having a gem monster covering the windows tended to hamper his ability to see what was past it.

28 was at a loss of words. "It's Unit 84. He's firing on the corrupted gem." She lined her sight to get another good look at him. Knowing that he could not have been unscathed from the explosion, she now assessed the damage.

84's helmet visor was shattered on the left, as she could vaguely see his left eye from the distance. His armor was tattered and burnt. She could see that some of the clothing torn and ripped. As if it wasn't enough, she also took notice his slouched stance. He was clearly in pain and struggled to stand upright while trying to fire his pistol accurately.

As much as she appreciated the gem focusing away from her and Unit 64, what 84 is completely suicidal and he needs to get out of there. Before she could so much as radio him, the corrupted gem abruptly roared and charged at full speed towards 84.

* * *

Unit 84 had done it again. The moment he turned to initiate the second phase of his plan, the realization had just dawned to him.

He gambled on his life.

He ran as fast as his injured legs could take him, nearing the opening. Already he could feel the ground shaking from the corrupted gem nearing him.

But something happened that he didn't expect.

It used it's tail to trip him.

His mind couldn't register what had happened until he hit the ground face first.

He turned around just in time to see the corrupted gem pounce towards his face roaring.

He drew the arc projector from his waist belt just in time to see the corrupted gem's fangs about to sink into his face.

Everything went white.

* * *

So many questions rushed through his head.

What happened? Am I dead? If this is supposed to be the other side, then it sucks.

It all felt like time had slowed down.

The corrupted gem appeared to have halted attack. It looked as if it was raining green fire onto of the gem, coming from the light.

A supernatural feeling washed over him, as he could see the , Delta screaming madly as he manned a Particle Beam Can-

Wait a minute! WHAT THE HELL!

Shaking himself out of his disillusioned stupor, he found that he was very much alive and unharmed. He also realized that he was sitting in front of a certain corrupted gem, screeching as it was fired upon by both Delta and the vessel's ordnance.

* * *

The vessel's model mainly served under transportation of equipment and troops. However, it did contain a variety of armament that would make enemies think twice before engaging.

Especially when it happens to be customized and upgraded by a certain Gem pilot.

Using the newly acquired payload from the vessel's armory, Delta was having the time of his life. The Particle Beam Canon was used as a heavy weapon, usually taking the form of a turret. Mounting it on the edge of the vessel's cargo doors, Delta wildly fired a concentrated beam of heat-intensifying energy.

Combined with the Heavy Blaster Canons, mounted under the front portion of the vessel, the concentrated barrage of firepower penetrated past the corrupted gem's armor plating. As a result, it began to essentially incinerate the inner skin.

Needless to say, it was an extremely painful experience for the creature.

Despite the need to not overheat the turret, Delta solely focused on the Gem. For taking Theta and Sigma from him, he was simply giving back it's overdue comeuppance.

* * *

Unit 28 was at a loss for words.

From nearly running out of ammunition, seeing her new partner about to get himself killed to now this.

Remembering what was originally transpiring, she looked back down to where 84 once was. Only to see that not only had he taken the time to move out of harm's way, but he's pushing the distracted gem to the opening.

Before she could even launch into a tirade of confusion, she zoomed her rifle scope to opening. Finding the vague resemblance of a charge lodged into one of the sides.

Now she understood what 84 was trying to do this whole time. He wasn't just trying to distract the corrupted gem.

He rigged the opening for it.

However, she knew there was one problem. By himself, he's useless in so much as moving the creature to the opening, given the size and 84's injuries.

Which is why he isn't going to do it alone.

She slung her rifle and jumped off the roof. Within a flash of light, she abruptly landed in front of a surprised Unit 64, shocked by her impossible landing.

Any questions on how she was able to do that, was shut down by her new orders. "We need to help Unit 84 now." She began to run to the current firefight, with Unit 64 in tow.

Despite having no objections with these orders, 64 could not help but ask, "Why? What's happening?"

Without turning around, 28 answered. "84 has a plan. A plan that won't work if we don't help him follow it."

* * *

Moving away from the path of the distracted gem, Unit 84 noticed how dangerously close it was getting to the opening.

Close enough that with a little help, it would fall into a certain trap.

Already on his feet, 84 ran to the corrupted gem. While keeping out of the line of fire and from the swaying motion's from it's remaining limbs.

Despite all of his energy spent, he still found the resolve to keep pushing on. And yet, it was not enough.

Chances are, it took notice of what 84 was trying to do to it, because it began to ground it's feet further into the ground.

The desire to crush the pestering Recovery Unit could never be expressed in any way, even if the corrupted gem could speak. But even attempting to hit him would further expose itself to the ongoing bombardment of fire that was coming from that vessel overhead.

As 84 felt his new found energy already dwindling, he found that his attempts to push the corrupted gem were getting weaker and weaker. Without any proper help, he might meet a similar fate alongside Theta.

As if on cue, a new set of arms dashed all these thoughts, instead replacing them with confusion.

He turned to see a determined 64 helping him in his current task. Before he could voice his disbelief, another set of arms joined in on his right. Expecting 28, he was surprised to see a very-much alive Alpha, who despite his tattered appearance was also giving in all his best.

And then it dawned to him.

 _I didn't check to see if he was still alive, did I?_

Lightning fast, she jumped up and an aura of gold formed throughout her body. While Unit 64 had no idea what she was doing, 84 however did. To not get struck, he grabbed both Alpha and 64 as the three threw themselves to the ground.

Within a literal blink of an eye, 28 was from sky in one second and in the next had charged at full speed to the unsuspecting gem. Both the force of the speed and impact had practically thrown the corrupted gem down the crater and into the opening.

Expecting what would happen next, she crouched away from the crater to not be hit by the blast wave.

The corrupted gem had enough time to make one final roar before meeting its apparent demise,

*BWWWWWWWWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMM-BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM*

The blast waves from both sides of the opening was enough to completely crush any living being, no less a certain corrupted gem monster. A good call on 84's part, on where he specifically placed the 2 remaining charges.

Through the ear deafening sounds, 28 could still hear that familiar poof sound of a retreating gem.

* * *

Due to the relatively small size of the courtyard, the ship returned back to the spot where it had originally picked up Delta. Securing the corrupted gem in a Capture Module, the group began to head towards the extraction site.

Unit 84, completely exhausted from this whole ordeal found himself helped up from the ground by 28. Except he also found himself launched into a tirade by the latter "That was probably one of the stupidest things I have seen any Unit do. What in the hell were you thinking?!"

Before he could even retort back, he heard a scream of rage coming from Alpha. Apparently, during the corrupted gem's attempt to shelter itself from the vessel's line of fire, it unknowingly stomped on his Arc Projector. The Arc Projector that was not only taken by 84, but also discarded after the timely arrival of Jade and Delta.

Knowing that 84 was about to suffer a rant from 2 people at once, Unit 64 acted to calm Alpha. "Relax, we can get you a new one. Projectors aren't that expensive anyways."

While that last fact was true, Alpha pointed out one crucial detail. "And what about those 3 months worth of time spent into these upgrades? Those nearly cost me a fortune."

* * *

Delta had never felt so alive. The ride back to the courtyard with his new set of weaponry and the battle that followed upon arriving. He was finally glad that he not only saved his comrades, but also got his sweet satisfying revenge against the corrupted gem.

Dismounting the Beam Canon, he descended down the ramp to greet the arriving group, his help to carry 84 rejected by the latter.

He really had to give it to these Recovery Units. While they tend to take the worst hits or beatings, they always get back on their feet. The infamous stories he has heard about them were true. They never stop until either they're dead or the mission is finished to the end.

Guess their reputation suits them.

He took the time to check on 64 and on Alpha, offering help to the 2. While 64 seemed able to walk, Alpha was gracious in accepting Delta's help.

With everything to do with this planet finished, Jade closed the bay doors and began it's liftoff.

As the ship began to take off, Delta inquired, "So now what?"

With her helmet off, the team was surprised to see the calm smile plastered on her face.

"Hope you haven't gotten used to this place, because we're going home."


	4. Chapter 4: Tiring Procedures

**Hey there,**

 **As you may have been used to this, I apologize again for the delay. Rather than dealing with revisions, this chapter was mainly affected by a horrible time schedule and overall laziness during its production.**

 **While I do take responsibility in its delay, I should warn you that you shouldn't take my promises to heart as I have already broken them. I'm referring to the last chapter, when I had promised that Chapter 4 was almost finished.**

 **But for what it's worth, the poorly written, unrevised work that is this chapter is finally finished.**

 **Appreciate the follows and reviews (despite the few) that this story has earned and look forward to gaining more.**

 **Hope you enjoy this chapter.**

* * *

Chapter 4: Tiring Procedures

Jade could not remember how she was even able to become a pilot. Especially when its her of all people.

 _Not a really defining occupation for a gem_

Jade remembered what made herself want to be one, but never understood how that dream became a reality. She never found herself adept or motivated in combat like the other warriors before her, nor was she into becoming a technician or scientist. And ironically enough, being a pilot was normally reserved under technicians.

Instead, she wanted to do something that was equally dangerous, but guaranteed adventure to pique her interests. Of course, that led to flying.

She had always fascinated herself with traveling the stars, visiting worlds that were yet to be discovered. Even planets already founded and colonized intrigued her.

Not many people would share her vision nor understand it. Which was probably what drew her close to the Recovery Units. They themselves stood out from the crowd.

Ever since leaving the facility, Unit 28 had remained in the cockpit with Jade as the rest of the team relaxed down in the cargo hold. They reminisced on the past along with inquires on how each other's lives have been before this mission for the entire 4 hour trip back home.

"There she is, in all her glory."

Homeworld.

"Its been a very long since I've last been here." Jade reminisced with a longing expression.

The Homeworld armada was massive. Thousands of ships decorated the the atmosphere, with dozens more already appearing in view of the vessel.

Upon approaching the nearest battle group, they were hailed by the group's flagship.

 _"Vessel, this is Homeworld Forward Defense Group 7. We do not have you on our flight schedule. State the nature of your visit immediately."_

Jade turned towards 28. "Its all yours." She stated expectantly. Rolling her eyes, 28 accessed the channel from her communicator and responded to the operator.

"This is Recovery Unit 28 returning to Homeworld to deposit level 6 security Intel. Transmitting authorization." She sent the codes through her wrist pad.

 _"Understood, stand by for security verification. Failure will result in the impound of your vessel and subsequent arrest of you crew."_ The operator warned before signing off.

Being met with silence, Jade shared a quiet giggle."Glad to see nothing's changed for this long." 28 only shook her head, smiling. "You have no idea."

Before Jade could retort, the operator had returned on the line.

 _"Verification complete. You are now cleared to land on Docking bay B-4 in Recovery Command. We're transmitting the coordinates to you now."_

"Understood. Requesting an open channel with Recovery Control."

 _"Request granted. Setting up the link now."_ The operator responded one last time before signing off.

On comm channel closes, another one opens.

 _"This is Recovery Control, what is your status Unit 28."_

"The mission was successful Control. I assume you received the report I sent."

 _"I have received the report Unit 28."_ Control confirmed, before adding. " _I would however, like to debrief you and Recovery Units 64 and 84 once you arrive to command."_ 28 would comply with the new order, if were it not for one problem. Unit 84 was still recovering and needs full medical care from Command before doing a debrief with Control.

She interjected. "Negative Control. Unit 84 was severely wounded from the mission, he will need proper access to healing before he can do a debrief."

A pause took place, followed by a response. " _Understood, move Unit 84 to the Garden and then report once he makes a full recovery."_

Smiling at the unintended pun, 28 signed off the communicator and watched as Jade steered the vessel past the vast armada of the defense fleet. Eventually, she made the descent down the planet's atmosphere.

Past the clouds, lay the ecumenopolis that was Homeworld. Skyscrapers and spires touched the sky, each emitting their own unique lights, of luminescent and neon shades. Between these buildings, lanes intersected past one another, made up of countless sky vehicles, taking various shapes and forms.

On the horizon, the sun was setting, giving the city that final tint of pale orange. It was truly a breathtaking sight.

She truly missed this planet and was grateful to have finally returned.

"You alright?" 28 knew the answer to that question, but she wanted to make sure that Jade was fine. Fortunately, she simply nodded and simply flashed a sad smile at 28 and stated "We're about to enter Command soon, you should get ready."

28 was about to leave, before an idea popped in her head. "So, the guys are all sleeping down below right?"

"Yeah?" Jade stated, now curious about what 28 was thinking.

"Sooooo. Don't you think we should wake them up before we land?" A rather unsettling smile was plastered on her face.

Jade's face twisted from confusion to a grin matching 28's, as she reached for the pilot controls.

* * *

Unit 84 was asleep.

Or rather, he simply rested against the side of a weapons bench, barely tall enough to support his back and head.

That was the first spot he sat down on after the mission. Completely exhausted and in pain, he simply sat on that spot, refusing any food or medical attention until he had allowed fatigue to take him.

Just after 84 fell asleep, Unit 64 made a makeshift bed using 2 of the 4 crates that he later shared with both Alpha and Delta. Alpha managed to score the last 2 crates as a bed, simply because of pulling rank. Which left Delta to sleep on top of one of the benches, keeping in mind not to disturb 84.

His peaceful state was soon interrupted by the lights of the loading bay's lights flickering on, shining the previously dark setting. Normally, he could tint his visor further in order to block out most of the light. Except the fact that half of it was nearly shattered removed that option. Instead, he simply tilted his head to the left to block away at least most of the light.

He hoped to return back to his desired rest, until being startled awake from the bay doors abruptly opening. The warning lights combined with the deafening sounds of the bay's alarm and the high altitude winds.

Drowning out the noise around him, 84 simply focused on the view presented from the open doors. The clusters of buildings, the lanes of vehicles. It was something he failed to appreciate. From the looks of it, the day was reaching a close, meaning he wouldn't have long until he can be put back on standby.

He watched as the ground began to crawl closer into view, the vessel already descending down towards their destination. The ship began to sinker downwards and with a final light bounce, it landed on the docks.

Once finishing with awaking the rest of your group to disembark the vessel, she walked over to check up on 86. Ever since leaving the planet, he was non compliant in receiving any medical attention. Resilience was charming, but extremely unnecessary when gravely injured.

She went over to the weapons bench, no surprise finding him still hunkered in that same position as when he first sat there. He was already awake, turning his head to the sound of her approaching steps. Towering over him, she offered her hand to him. "Can you walk."

Through the shattered visor, she could see his left eye gazing at her, as if he hadn't noticed her approaching him. For the first time, 28 finally got a good look at his exposed eye. It was an odd luminescent green, with a mixture of dark blue tint spread on his iris. The outer rim of the iris was coated with a black rim.

Shaking from his gaze, he simply shrugged and took her hand. Heaved upwards, 28 left him be to see if he can walk on his own and assisted with gathering the group's belongings.

* * *

The docks was packed. Military vessels either took off or landed, with dozens of people bustled through having returned from their mission or be deployed. Having all of their belongings in check, the crew stepped off the ramp.

Before they could distance themselves from the ship, Jade called out to 84. "Make sure you get a response from Control on that piece of junk you got on MY ship." 84 nodded in response and continued on his sauntering journey to the docks.

As they left the vessel, Jade gave a final wave to the group, an act that was reciprocated back to her. Satisfied that she said goodbye, she turned back to her ship and prepped it for any upcoming missions.

As they neared the main platform, Alpha and Delta began their walk towards another direction.

"You're not coming with us?" Unit 64 asked.

Alpha shook his head. "We have our own COs to report. Besides, I need to this idiot back to the med center, before he starts whining about the pain in his leg." He then gestured to an impatient Delta, unfazed by the glare he was receiving from the latter.

Removing his expression of his leader, Delta exchanged his own goodbye. "Guess we'll be seeing you Recovery Units around sometime. Been a pleasure working with you."

"Likewise." 28 simply stated.

"And you." Alpha pointed at 84. "Owe me a new Arc Projector." He reminded with a mock glare. The only thing that 84 could give that justified as a response, was a light shrug.

Going their separate ways, the 3 Recovery Units returned to their original task of reporting to the Deck Administrator. They operate more as a receptionist for the Recovery Units, keeping in check those that are departing from or arriving to base.

They crossed one of the 2 bridges connecting the colossal building and the docking bay. After reaching the end, they entered into one of the clusters of buildings, identified as Recovery Command by the symbol displayed on the doors.

At the end of the lobby, was the administrator herself, reading off one of the multiple holographic screens that littered her desk. She was a rather slender individual, most likely standing taller than either one of the Recovery Units. Her Gem was openly displayed on her neck, taking the form of a violet octagonal shape while being partially covered by her chin.

Without even looking away from the screen, she addressed the newly arrived group. "Welcome back Recovery Unit 28. I was told that the mission was successful."

She simply stated,"A technician has already been called. She will receive both items from you. Afterwards, you are to report to Control for a debriefing."

Already having this discussion with Control, Unit 28 corrected the Administrator. "We have already spoken with Control. However, I have been authorized to postpone the meeting to get aid for Unit 84, as he was injured during the mission."

For the first time since arriving, the administrator quickly looked away from her apparent task to glance at Unit 84. Seeing the damage for herself, she simply nodded and returned her attention to the screen. "Take him to the Garden. I'll forward a request to Control for a resupply of equipment. That is all."

Unit 28 then shoved the 3 mission items into 64's hands."You can deliver these to the technician. I'll take 84 to the Garden and meet up with you afterwards." She then went to grab Unit 84, who had situated himself on one of the many waiting chairs of the lobby.

"But...Where do I deliver these?" 64 had asked, only to find that 28 was already gone.

Reluctantly, he turned back to the administrator and dumbly stated. "Uhhhhh..."

"What?" Was all that 64 had got out of her, impatient with him disturbing her work.

"Where exactly is the technician?"

Sighing, the administrator opened up another screen. "I'll call for her to come down. Just wait over there." She gestured to the row of seats that were just used by 84.

Complying, 64 sat down tensely, hoping that 28 would return as soon as possible.

* * *

The Garden was a place of wonders for any newcomer. Stationed at the lower parts of Command, it's purpose serves as a healing source as well as provide a serene and therapeutic environment for other visitors.

As suggested by its name, the area consists of a large garden that spans kilometres wide. Throughout the room, rested plains of grass, and plants of varying species, with walkways intersecting between each bodies of flora. Its colossal size has been known to misconceive people into thinking that they have exited the main Command building.

While there is a specific medical wing in Command, the Garden serves to provide for specific emergencies. This usually consists of those that need immediate medical attention or for wounds too severe for the other wing to heal.

Only a few occasions has Unit 84 been here, for specific meetings between certain professional individuals.

In the middle of the room, rested a rather large fountain, with the ground level pool big enough to fit in dozens of people. It wasn't just the fountain that was extraordinary, but what it was flowing within.

Resting at the top of the fountain, was a statue of a rather large gem. It stood tall and proud, its arms

Based on the stories, the gem statue, most known as Pink Diamond was gifted with a special power where her tears contained magical properties. These properties, were able to cure any injuries or illnesses of all forms.

The Garden was built around the first fountain she had created to produce her healing tears, to honor her life saving ability.

Many Recovery Units have expressed their amazement and gratitude of the fountain's abilities. They enter battered or to near-death and return healthy and beaming with energy.

Upon arriving, the caretakers and aides of the fountain paid no mind to the 2 Units, having been notified by the administrator. Instead, one aide welcomed the duo and directed Unit 84 away towards another portion of the fountain.

Before leaving, 28 simply instructed 84 to meet them at the top of the building, where Control was situated.

Reaching a bench, the aide instructed 84 to remove his armor and clothing, but was allowed to use his pants on. The aide added that last part with a smile, amused from the rather embarrassed Recovery Unit. Seeing no way out of this, 84 started with his vest.

Time to see if this place can live up to its name.

* * *

 **37 minutes later**

Walking past the decorated halls, they were greeted by the vast amount of gem warriors, comprising of the security of Control. Any normal visitor would receive a rather curt and suspicious staff. With Recovery Units being close to Control, however, they receive no such issues with security.

Upon encountering the Commanding officer of the staff, they were greeted and congratulated upon, having already heard of their success. They were then granted access to Control without incident, given the amount of trust Recovery Units possess.

Before they opened the doors, it had just occurred to Unit 84 that this is the third time he is going to speak to Control in person. The first time was before his enlistment into the program and the second referring to the first time he had operated in a level 5 emergency.

The desk of the room was surrounded by windows, overlooking the docks below and displaying the city in full view. In the middle of the window frame, laid a series of televised screens, displaying what appeared to be live footage of active Recovery Units. The only sound that echoed in the room, were her finger lightly tapping into a holographic keyboard. Her golden eyes immediately turned their attention to new guests, practically piercing through the three. Amidst her glaring eyes, she finally spoke.

"Welcome back Recovery Units. Congratulations on your successful mission."

Without a moments hesitation, the 3 Units lowered themselves into a bow, addressing their superior officer.

"Thank you, Yellow Diamond."

With a slight wave of her hand, she simply stated. "Relax."

Complying, the three rose and walked closer towards her desk. Her eyes never leaving the trio.

"I also understand that not all went well during the mission."

Unit 64 answered for 28. "We lost 2 operatives to the corrupted gem. Confirmed by both Units 28 an 84." 84 took notice of the guild laced in 64's voice.

"I see." Was all that Yellow Diamond said. She then began to tap her hands together, as if she was contemplating something.

"Yes, and the technician has already reported her acquirement of both Agate and the mission objectives. Glad to see that this mission had not turned out to be a total loss."

While 28 and 64 may have been interested on learning more about who that corrupted gem used to be, 84 was more concerned about keeping it in isolation. But given the fact that its someone else's problem, he shouldn't find a reason to care about it anymore.

The meeting was rather quick. All three of the Units recounted their experiences in the mission and what had specifically happened with the 2 casualties. Until conversation shifted to the apparently "heroic" actions of Unit 84.

Yellow Diamond turned her gaze from 28 and unto the mentioned Unit. 84 is clearly going to need a new set of gear, taken from a quick inspection. Only this time, she thought up if an idea.

"Given your eminent performance over these past 2 missions, I believe this justifies for you to get a requisitions order."

84 was stunned to say the least. Requisition orders are normally granted to higher ranking Units and Operatives of the Diamond Authority. Normally they're distributed as rewards for a successful mission or recovery. For his case, he only expected to get a simple resupply of equipment. Not that it was mediocre gear, just not as goo.

Looking at the side of the desk, he could see 28 giving him an approving look, appearing to agree with Yellow Diamond. The pat on his back supported the fact that 64 also thought the same thing.

"You two will be placed on reserve for the next couple of days. Hopefully that will give you enough time to get yourself refitted with this order." Both 84 and 64 were rather pleased with themselves. Reserve was the term given to Units that are granted time off from missions. "Unit 28 shall stay. I would like to further discuss with you about the mission. You two are dismissed."

As the the addressed began to leave, Yellow Diamond quickly called. "Oh, and I almost forgot. Unit 84?" The addressed turned around, curious about his calling. "Yes, Yellow Diamond?"

"I recalled reading about a certain incident involving you and pilot Jade. Something about a 'bike' being brought on board her vessel?" She inquired, her chastising tone taking the attention of 84. "Care to elaborate on that?"

"I had mentioned on my recovery of Agate that I had secured enemy transportation. That would be the hoverbike I had brought on board Jade's vessel."

"You do know the repercussions of possessing unauthorized enemy equipment?"

"Well, I did offer Jade to contact Command and verify it with you, but she didn't seem to take up on it." Upon finishing that sentence, his mind just stopped. Over the corner of his eye, he could see 64 stare at him in utter shock, no doubt 28 would be doing the same.

 _Did I just sass her?_

 _Did he just sass her?_ Thought 64 and 28 simultaneously.

The only readable expression that gave away from Yellow Diamond was a mild mixture of surprise and offence. "Did you just sass me?"

All 84 could do was just stare back at Yellow Diamond, petrified by her piercing glare. Now how to answer her question without further digging in the potential grave he had just dug up?

"Yes."

 _NOOOOOO!_

An eyebrow was raised in either slight interest or confusion on her otherwise motionless face. The tension in the room was unbearable for everyone.

To everyone's surprise, Yellow Diamond simply nodded and turned away from 84. Courtesy of his shattered visor, she already took notice of his exposed eye widen with absolute astonishment. Situating at her desk once more, she offhandedly addressed the paralyzed 84. "I'll inform Jade to take the vehicle to the vehicle repository. Maintenance of this vehicle will solely be YOUR responsibility." Yellow Diamond added emphasis to that last point with stern inflection.

With a final bow, the 2 units left the office to their newly acquired break along with leaving 28 to confer with Yellow Diamond about whatever it is that they discuss. Not that 84 would be authorized to know.

Nor cared enough to.

* * *

Back in the main halls of Command, the Main entrance reopened. Units 84 and 64 walking past the colossal doors, their plans currently uncertain. Using the elevators again, the duo returned to the main floors of Command, now containing less people. As time would have it, the sun had already settled. And in it's spot, had been taken by the planets moon, which decorated the hall with it's natural light.

As beautiful of a sight as it was for 64 to gaze upon, he quickly reverted his attention to his companion in the hopes of asking him something. Perhaps they could spend the night with their fellow Operatives.

"So now that's out of the way, maybe we could go meet Alpha and Delta at...and he's gone." His hopes of hanging out with someone today disappeared along with his companion.

"Dammit."

Standing alone in the middle of the main floor, he humphed to no one in particular, "Well I guess someone just lost his invitation to tonight's party."

Oh who was he kidding, he's got no one to go with.

* * *

Exiting the main elevator, Unit 84 proceeded to the Market district of Command. It was located nearer towards ground level, providing easier access to the city to bring in new supply. The ward consisted of numerous stores and businesses, sporting goods for weaponry, accommodation and entertainment.

Out of all these stores, 84 had one place in particular that he would like to visit. This particular store rested near the far end of the ward, dealing mainly in weapons and equipment. While the items were rather decent, it wasn't the only reason that 84 would always visit.

This reason would be having a chance to chat with the market keeper, who he named Eudora. She had pale skin, with some facial markings apparently supposed to be symbols. Her hair was kept fairly short, only reaching her shoulders. It sporting a combined shade of orange and red. A more distinct characteristic that 84 always took note of were her eyes. They blossomed a magnificent luminescent purple, surrounded by a neon blue rim. A noticeable scar adorned on her left cheek, a reminder of her past endeavors.

The keeper was a former Operative, being released after an apparent insubordination incident. At least from what he heard, Eudora never exactly explained it to him. And yet, she was perhaps the only person that 84 actually enjoyed hanging out with.

Upon sensing his presence, she looked towards 84 and gave that all-knowing friendly smile. "If it isn't my favorite customer. How's it going 84?"

84 simply nodded and began to make his way over to her, taking notice of the newly placed arsenal stacked on the weapons display.

"So, looking for something to buy? You may have noticed I've got some pretty new stock that just came in this morning. Very high quality." She boasted. "You're more than welcome to take a peek."

Her cordial expression quickly twisted to worry once she got a look at the noticeably gaping hole in 84's visor.

"Good gods, what happened to you? You're a complete mess." Her gaze then shifted on his attire. "You're gonna need a lot of requisitions to fix all of that."

84 shrugged. "Yeah, that's kind why I'm here. Got a requisitions order to replace this all."

Her worried expression was quickly replaced by her previously friendly expression. "That's good to hear. I wouldn't want something fatal to happen to you." She laughed. "I mean, you wouldn't want me to not have someone to extort their money from, now would you?"

"You're just that supportive person as always." 84 chuckled, earning himself a wink from Eudora.

"Hey, you know I've always got your back, kid."

84 quickly grimaced. Every time he came here, he would always here that statement from her. And every time he would remind her that they were the same age.

Like that ever stopped her from saying that.

But today had put him in a very good mood. Rather than respond, he simply nodded and reached into his vest to pull out his requisitions order. His silence, however, caught the attention of Eudora.

"You really don't have anything to say to that? I don't like that, what else is going on?" She inquired, with mock suspicion.

Placing his order on the counter for Eudora to see, he explained, "Today is not just going to be a simply replacement order. I've got a high level requisitions order signed off by Control."

She gave the order a quick read, validating what 84 had just said. "Wow, this is a rare order. Only the higher ups get these as rewards for their successes. Whatever you did must have really impressed YD."

84 sheepishly shrugged and began to take a look at Eudora's inventory. She might not stack the greatest arsenal of the ward, but her inventory was still adequate in getting the job done at the right price.

Before making a decision, Eudora quickly diverted his attention from her stocks. "You don't want any of that standard crap. I think I've got the perfect set of gear, especially for someone in your line of work." She then went to the storage room, while opening the access door for 84 to follow.

She finally reemerged with a chrome crate. A symbol was stamped on the top, representing what 84 assumed was the manufacturer that made this set. Giving him some privacy, she turned her back and faced the opposite direction, listening to the sounds of 84 changing his tattered wear.

Eudora decided to strike up a conversation to keep the mood going and to settle her curiosity. "So you mind telling me what happened to your last mission? I'm kinda curious to see what you actually did that gave you that nice little hole in your helmet."

Looking up from the opened crate, 84 glanced at Eudora's back. He was contemplating on whether he should just BS his way or just tell he what happened. Though with her knowing him for this long, she knew when he lied.

He told her everything, including the Recovery mission he had before that with gem Agate. He told her about that the hoverbike he acquired for himself, the trip back and the whole fiasco of getting it on board Jade's vessel.

He took the time to explain the incident regarding Theta and how he had to let him go. Eudora took note of the neutral tone that he gave in his explanation, as if this topic hadn't affected him.

She instead nodded, actually agreeing with him. "Good call. You would've endangered the others if you hadn't let go any sooner." Noticing the lack of response from 84, she decided to change the subject.

"How's your arm?"

Another pause.

"S'fine."

Sparing a quick glance at the corner of her eye, she could vaguely see him clutching his left arm tightly. Not that his response convinced her in the first place.

"So what're you up to tonight? Any plans?" Expecting a response from him, she could only hear a lack of rustling from behind her. 84 had paused in putting on his new combat vest. A second later, he simply replies, "I'm probably gonna go back to my quarters and crash."

Eudora nodded, before adding, "You're gonna go on your usual walk?"

She heard nothing from, apparently he was surprised by her awareness of his activities. A couple seconds later, she began to hear that

"Hey, no shame in that." Eudora chuckled, as if she was sensing his uncertainty, "But you never know, even the smallest changes can affect the whole routine."

Buckling the last straps on his vest, 84 looked at his new appearance in the mirror next to him. Unlike his previous equipment, his new set came with additional pieces of light armor sewn within the clothing. Reading about this before, this armor can provide twice the amount of ballistic and laser protection than his previous vest, with half of the weight.

Kind of explains why the higher ranking units prefer these brands.

Oddly enough, it came with specialized slots for what he assumed were dedicated to shield batteries and armor abilities.

Both of which he lacks the funds and the authorization to obtain.

Disregarding that fact, 84 picked up and examined his new helmet. Like the rest of his armor, the helmet was completely different from the last. The visor was instead a pair of view ports that were slated at an upper angle, appearing more menacing than the wearer. The mouthpiece had a large protrusion that surrounded lower portion of the chin and jawline. It's angled shape took the a more canine appearance.

All in all, this new set was rather comfortable and very durable to 84's standards. It was light, and offers such amazing performance in combat. A real surprise that he was rewarded this by Yellow Diamond, considering the fact that the last time he did a high risk operation only granted him an operations bonus in his payments.

The only thing that irked him however, was the color scheme.

* * *

"We've done a visual recognition of the vehicles found on Unit 84's previous mission". Informed Unit 28.

"And?"

On cue, the images taken from Unit 84's helmet feed visualized on a holoprojector in the middle of the room. The dropships, hoverbike and bodies were displayed in various images. "Vehicle models and symbols matched with the other those found in the previous sightings." 28 explained. "This means that Unit 84 is the first person to have encountered them within the Homeworld Sector."

"Which confirms the previous theory that they're getting closer." Yellow Diamond finished, continuing to stare at the images.

"Hmm." Was the only thing that came from 28, prompting Yellow Diamond to turn towards her. "A concern?"

28 simply shrugged. "I just hope you're underestimating the situation."

Much to her surprise, Yellow Diamond only chuckled. "Underestimate what? That a group of survivors that we missed after the war is thriving and apparently bent on revenge?"

Seeing the unsure expression plastered on 28's face, Yellow Diamond reasserted. "This group has yet to prove themselves that they're a threat. The vehicles found were pre-war models, the're under-equipped and the fact alone that we have never encountered a living member of these groups. If you can prove me otherwise, then by all means."

Having nothing more to explain, she re-positioned herself to sitting on the front of her desk. She was more interested with discussing a certain topic "I haven't exactly received much information on the effectiveness of your partners in the report. Lets start with Unit 64."

From the top of her head, 28 explained, "Unit 64 had performed beyond expectations. Obeyed orders, followed tactics and overall contributed to the mission. I'm rather surprised, especially given his operational history."

Yellow Diamond simply nodded. "Quite so. I almost found your report regarding his performance disbelieving to say the least."

"Is this enough for him to at least be reevaluated?"

Curiosity sometimes got over 28, but her rank was enough to excuse several probing questions or inquiries. At least when it came to Yellow Diamond.

Her response sounded dismissive. "Whether or not he is to be reevaluated is still up for debate. But the point being is that he has bought himself some time. For now."

"So how about Unit 84?" Yellow Diamond implored, clearly interested in hearing 28's response. "How exactly did he perform in the mission?"

28 took notice in the interest for this Unit. She could try her luck and inquire on Yellow Diamond's interest, or she could just answer the questions.

She chose the latter.

"Well, let's just say that Unit 64 wasn't the only thing that surprised me. For a Unit that has no apparent record or reputable history, Unit 84 has proven to be quite experienced."

Appearing to be satisfied by her answer, Yellow Diamond asked, "Then you find that he would make a valuable asset?"

Unit 28 gave a look of appraisal, but her tone suggested otherwise. "I find that he will benefit this organization later on, provided that he has proper guidance."

The worst part about serving Yellow Diamond, is that she can tell if anyone is hiding something . She gave 28 a curious look, as if she was looking over something. "You sound unsure. Did something happen with him?"

There was no point in lying, so 28 was as honest as she could be. "I found that his previous actions in subduing the corrupted gem was beyond reckless. He simply gambled his life and I find that the risk of death does not appear to affect his judgement."

Yellow Diamond made a face of mild intrigue and simply stated. "Again?"

Wait, again?

"You mean he's done this before?" Came the incredulous response from 28.

Her superior nodded. "I'm afraid so. During his past group assignments with other Units, I have received similar reports of him committing these form of actions, similar to yours." Her voice contained a trace of annoyance. "This behavior has been a rather irritable issue for me, because despite my sincerest efforts, it has kept on re surging later on in time."

"Can't Fluorite help him?"

"The issue lie within her abilities, but within 84. He's been known to..." Yellow Diamond paused, trying to find the right words. "keep to himself in a way.

Hearing nothing from 28, Yellow Diamond continued. "I'll arrange for him to visit her again. Hopefully she might make some more progress in helping him." The latter turned to look outside her window, gazing the vast skyline.

* * *

 _"I can only hope she helps him in time."_

Unit 84 started on his daily walk through the street level of Homeworld. He walked past dozens of gems, heading towards numerous directions on their own business or intentions. Occasionally, he would receive a few glances towards him, but he otherwise walked uninterrupted.

It was quite a sight to behold. He walked into what was the second level of an outdoor concourse, with the bustling activity of the city happening below. Here, there many stores and public relaxation areas, all loitered by dozens of the city populous. Looking up, he could see the skyscrapers tower up for miles ahead, barely being able to see the top. The view still provided that maze of intersecting traffic lanes, cluttering with hundreds of sky vehicles.

No matter how many times he has ventured through these very streets and levels, he failed to grow tired of it. The futuristic vibe and views always brought him in good spirits. Every mission, he would always finish up with his debriefing, stock up at the markets and just venture through the vast ecumenopolis. With the moon finally up, the city light finally emitted in full brightness in the skyline.

It was the closest thing on Homeworld, that he could really call his home.

 _No pun intended._

Couldn't hurt to chuckle at that though.

As he continued down his usual path, he took notice of the occasional gem that would spare him a second glance in slight interest or unease. Of course, none of them would even think of crossing his path.

While Recovery Units or even Operatives are allowed to venture outside of Command on their own free time, they rarely do so. So imagine how surprising it is for these gems to see a rather high ranking member of the Diamond Authority stroll on his own business though their streets.

The real kicker for 84 was that for him, he only experienced glances from the local populace. He's seen both gems and warriors actively step out of the way for the highest ranking members, either out of respect or fear. Usually both.

His mind continued to drift further away, when a short blue gem slammed against his chest.

* * *

 **Quick reminder, don't own anything except for my OCs.**


	5. Quick Update

**The first thing I would like to address, is a quick apology for yet ANOTHER delay in the release of the next chapter. Except what had happened was that I had to go on a week-long hiatus to attend a personal family matter overseas.**

 **Throughout that week, I had little to no time for writing chapter 5 as I was rather occupied with the family situation. I apologize again for the delay.**

 **This however, does not mean that I'm done writing this fiction. Especially when I have a lot planned for it in the coming future.**

 **For the most part, I just hope you enjoy the newly released chapter and I hope to continue on writing without any interruptions.**

 **I hope to hear more feedback for things that I may improve on or for any other questions you would wish to address.**

 **Cheers.**


	6. Chapter 5: Introspection

**Howdy there, everyone. It's been a while, huh?**

 **Guess I can't say much aside from another apology and an empty promise of when the next chapter is coming out, but I guess all I can say is that it'll be done when it's done.**

 **Regardless, I hope you enjoy this chapter and are interested to see the next.**

* * *

 **Chapter 5: Introspection**

Tiger eye's eyes multi tasked on reading mission report on Alpha's performance, while focusing their attention to the same Alpha who stood in front of her. Being the Commanding Officer of the Task Force, Alpha worked for, she had a quick evaluation with him to recap what had happened on the mission.

She was a rather slim, orange being with her gem located on the back of her neck. Oval while being rough around the edges. Her dress was sleek and elegant, making her look thinner than she way. The left shoulder piece stood up as far to the top of her head. One thing that stood out from her appearance was her personality, as she always seemed Delta once quoted, to "have a reason to piss on everyone she meets."

"I was meaning to ask you something after the briefing, Alpha."

Alpha nodded his head in a rather eager acknowledgment, "Of course, how can I help?"

Finished with her reading on the report, she simply stared at a patient Alpha before she asked, "What is wrong with you?"

Alpha was rather taken aback.

"Uh...what?"

Her gaze unmoved, she instead repeated her question. "What is wrong with you?"

The only thing Alpha could do was quietly stutter to form an answer.

"Uhhhh..."

Clear that she would not get a response from him in this state, Tiger Eye began to elaborate.

"The other day while you were on your mission, I had a rather enlightening inspection from one of the Overseers of the DA."

Before Alpha could respond, Tiger Eye continued. "So you can imagine my surprise when I had to explain why she found a certain Vat of used coolant strewn about on the top floor."

Alpha's expression changed from confusion to realization, and then to fear about what his boss was reffering to. The vat was something that he and the rest of the Task Force used to test out some of the new equipment that was just delivered to the building. Despite irking the hell out of her, Tiger Eye permitted the event to go on, only on the condition that they were to dispose of everything. Except, no one exactly agreed on who would dispose of the giant vat of used coolant that was strewn on the roof. In fact, Alpha had completely forgot about it

And that certain happened about 2 months ago.

"Alpha." She slowly began with minimal signs of patience. "I've given you at least 2 months now. I have been very patient and calm about your inept behavior. But, I want that vat out of here today!"

"With all due respect ma'am, I don't have means to do it myself."

Tiger Eye made a rather confused expression as she took Alpha's response in account."Huh...That's really weird. Because that's starting to sound like it's NOT MY PROBLEM!"

"Can't I just dump the contents over the edge, it's be much easier that way." Alpha reasoned, clearly not in the mood to drag the vat by himself.

Tiger Eye gave a look as if Alpha was genuinely moronic."Seriously? If I was able to do that, why the hell would I ask for YOU of all people to do it?"

 _Ouch,_ winced Alpha.

"I already have Control breathing down my neck. Especially after what you guys did with that damn vat in the first place."

"I have to leave for a tactician meeting with Control, which leaves you with about 4 hours. You need to get some people to help you, call in a transport. DO IT! And get that Vat out of my base." Tiger Eye slowly stood up and leaned forward to Alpha in a threatening effect.

After a few minutes of awkward silence between the two, Tiger Eye quickly pondered something in front of Alpha. "Say, you know what'd I'd really go for right now?" Before Alpha could even respond, she already answered for him. "If you would START ON WHAT I ASKED YOU TO!"

"Understood." Alpha complied, before he decided to test his luck. "But is it possible for me to get some time to register for a new Arc-"

"NOW!"

"Alright fine, I'm going." Alpha responded as he rushed out of the room. Leaving the Command Deck, he leaned against the nearby wall and sighed.

Well that was disaster.

Honestly, he really did have it coming. Its not like anyone was going to actually take the initiative to get that coolant vat off the roof. Except now, its come back to bite him the ass.

 _So now what?_ , Alpha pondered.

Delta had already made his way to the "Sanctuary" next to Recovery Command, so no way he'll be helping out. Jade is probably space-bound by now, implying she would actually lend her ship over. Implying!

So, it would seem that the only person that Alpha can rely on to get this Vat out of the building is himself of course.

 _Oh yeah, right. There's him._

As he tried to fit the vat into the exit, something dawned on Alpha's mind.

"How did we even get this on the roof?"

* * *

His immediate reaction was one of annoyance from being interrupted from his train of thought. Unit 84 looked down in front of him to see who had hit him, ignoring the surprised glances from the nearest passerby.

And his annoyed expression quickly twisted into one of confusion.

On the ground in front of him was a slightly short gem, he mused that she was at least tall enough to reach his shoulder. She appeared to be holding her head with one of her hands in pain from bumping into him. For some reason, he couldn't seem tell her to watch where she was going. The words just couldn't seem to form in his mouth. Instead all he could do is stare and examine her features.

Her hair was shoulder length, with long bangs sporting a shade of medium-blue. It was wild and wavy, appearing as if it was unkempt.

Her skin was a smooth light-blue, her dress slightly darker. It seemed to be long enough to reach her knees, judging from the way that she laid on the ground. With the lack of a visible gem, 84 assumed that it would most likely be in either her hands or her back.

After removing her hand from her head, she looked up to see who she had collided with, her eyes flashing a similar expression of anger. Only for them to widen, giving 84 a great view of her eyes.

Even with her angered gaze, they were much wider than any other pairs of eyes that he's ever seen. Her irises were a dazzling navy-blue that looked up to 84, as if they were studying him. Said angry eyes quickly switched to a gaze of surprise, as if she had just seen a ghost.

Her wide blue eyes somehow found their way to match his as they were locked together, neither pair moving from their frozen gaze.

* * *

She never liked those masked warriors. There was something indescribably unsettling about them, as if there was some vibe that she got every time she was around one.

And the fact that a fellow gem had made the mistake of bumping into one of them was not something to be taken lightly.

Sodalite heard of what had happened to those who were unfortunate enough to get in the way of these Units. And let's just say that in the worst of cases, it took a while for them to regenerate from their gem. And they weren't the same after.

Before anything could even transpire between the pair, Sodalite quickly rushed to the blue gem. A part of her was mulling over the realization and scolding herself for what she was about to do. But another part just couldn't bring herself to let the blue gem suffer a terrible fate. As she came nearer, she quickly came up with an alibi and exclaimed.

"There you are! We've been waiting for you all day at the shop." She exclaimed. The staring pair both turned their startled gazes to the newly approaching gem.

"I told you to come here as soon as possible, not just rush here all hasty like that." Finally reaching the two, she began to reach down and help the younger gem up.

Ignoring the perplexed look on the gem's face, Sodalite hoisted her back to her feet again. Turning to the Unit, she maintained the most convincing tone she could muster. "I am so sorry about this. I kept rushing the poor dear to come to my shop as fast as possible. I usually need her to help out during the night."

The Unit simply turned his attention to Sodalite, as if he hadn't already noticed her presence. His blank gaze, masked by his helmet, made her hair stand on end, if she had any. It was very unsettling, not being able to know what they were thinking. Did he already figure out that she was lying?

Keeping her barely calm facade, Sodalite watched as he simply nodded, before turning his attention back to the blue gem. Her expression unchanged, she continued to examine him with that same examining gaze. It was as if she discovered something that she had never seen in a long time.

Not wanting to occupy the Unit any longer, she quickly herded the blue gem away from the street and to her shop. From the corner of her eye, she could see the Unit continue to stare at the departing duo before he turned around and walked the path from which he came.

"Are you alright?" She asked her new guest. Much to Sodalite's surprise, the blue gem spoke.

"Uh...Yeah, I'm fine." Her answer was meek at best, but Sodalite didn't pay any mind. She had a much more pressing question on her mind.

"Then, WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!"

The blue gem looked at her, surprised from her shift of tone. What was a concerned Samaritan quickly turned to a scolding individual. "What? I-"

"You never, ever walk in the way of a Unit. Ever!"

The blue gem attempted to explain herself, but Sodalite continued her rant. "Do you have any idea what could have happened? I'm surprised he didn't shatter you on the spot."

Seeing the little one feeling guilty and confused, Sodalite calmed down. "Hey, I'm sorry for yelling." Her apologetic expression quickly reverted back to one of ire. "But, you're extremely lucky that nothing happened to you."

Her calm tone seemed to have the desired effect, as the blue gem began loosen up. "It's alright. It's just that I've been away from here for a very long time. I don't exactly know much about Homeworld anymore."

"Oh, I get it now. You must be one of those gems from the far sector, aren't you?" Sodalite mused, finally beginning to understand. "Well, I guess I can't blame you for not knowing. The person you bumped into was a Recovery Unit."

"Recovery Unit?" She repeated, apparently having never heard the term.

Sodalite nodded. "Yes, a Recovery Unit. They are high ranking warriors of the Diamond Authority. Because of their association, some would think that they're the personal guard of the Diamonds."

The blue gem turned to her curiously. "If these guys are supposed to be secret, how do you know all this?"

"Well, let's just say that word tends to travel around about many things." Sodalite explained, adding. "Most of what I said could neither be proven true or false, so you can make with it however you'd like."

"You know." Sodalite began, "For someone who's never seen or even heard of these Units, you looked like you knew that particular one."

The blue gem's neutral face quickly turned to one of mild wonder, "Is that what I looked like? Huh... I guess I hadn't noticed that."

"There was just something about him I couldn't seem to place my finger on." Lapis mused, resting her hand on-top of her cheek. "I sensed something."

Now curious, Sodalite turned to Lapis. "What was it?"

"I'm not so sure, it was like there was another gem standing in front of me."

Sodalite could only scrunch up her face in confusion. That can't be right."Perhaps you confused it with something similar?"

"No." The blue gem shook her head, determined in her answer. "I've experienced this feeling many times before. There was a gem presence standing right in front of me."

That didn't make any sense. She might not have that sensing ability that the older gems have, but there were many characteristics that make up a gem. And that Recovery Unit did not meet any of them.

"How about we start with introducing each other? I'm Sodalite." She introduced herself, offering a friendly hand. "And yourself?"

The blue gem simply stared at Sodalite's outstretched, as if she had never seen the gesture. Eventually, she shook it.

"I'm Lapis Lazuli."

* * *

Unit 84 was rather stumped.

Of the many things that stood out from other "Pearl" Units, was her mannerisms. Unlike the others, she added a little more personality towards everything as she took a more sarcastic and slightly cynical attitude towards her interactions.

If he were to put the time and effort, Unit 84 might be able to deduce the fact that this Pearl may be defective.

Only he hasn't and he won't anytime soon.

Passing her by, 84 received nothing short of a uninterested greeting from her: A nod.

That's rather new. Usually he got a dirty look every time he walked by. Perhaps she heard of his successful mission with Unit 28.

Turning away his attention, he then entered what appeared to be a pair of elevators. Both doors barely stood out from the room, only being distinguishable by the rectangular line that adorned their stature. Both of the doors dawned the Diamond authority symbol, 3 triangles bearing the colors yellow, white and blue. The three were surrounded by 6 green diamonds, as they all take the form of a giant triangle.

Approaching the lift on the right, he stood still and placed his hand on the main base of the door. The Yellow triangle of the symbol glowed as the door quickly opened to a compressed room.

Despite the building being reserved for the Recovery Units, other groups of forces under the command of the Diamond Authority have also reserved rooms within the building.

As quickly as they opened, the doors snapped shut the second Unit 84 had entered. On the left side of the doors stood a thin blank panel. Placing his hand on the panel, the entire room lit up a shade of Yellow.

Within seconds, the door opened to a whole new level on the building. _Screw using warp pads_ 84 figured. Finding his room in the vast, long corridor, he quickly unlocked and opened the entrance and stepped in.

His room was neither big nor small, not that he had much things to store. Most of the room was occupied by crates containing his older equipment and weapons. The room on the right of his entrance, was refresher room, mainly for cleaning apparel and meditation. The far side of the room contained a plain bed and desk. Besides the original architecture, his room was rather bland. To be frank, these were the basic accommodations for any living quarters for every room in Homeworld.

One thing he did enjoy, was the great view he had. He could just sit there all day long and stare at the vast ecumenopolis. Implying that he hasn't done it before.

Making his way to the other end of the room, 84 simply sat on his bed, feeling the sheets unused for a long time. He finally opened his wrist pad, searching for the manual settings to his implants. Scrolling through, he found the option titled "Nerve Regulators" and switched them off. All the while, ignoring the flashing warning signs of the effects from this action.

With all that said and done, Unit 84 simply grabbed one of the blank note pads that were strewn about in the room and sat back on the bed.

After everything he has gone through for the past 3 days, Unit 84 was finally granted the beautiful gift that was called a break. With his mental clock set, he simply relaxed and closed his eyes.

* * *

 _You open your eyes in a familiar setting._

 _You are calm._

 _Relaxed._

 _At peace._

 _You begin to hear a sequence of numbers_

 _06, 09, 14, 04_

 _20, 08, 05_

 _05, 20, 05, 18, 14, 01, 12_

 _05, 01, 18, 04, 05, 14_

* * *

Unit 84 opened his eyes to the sound of his communicator beeping. By default, his implants went back to default settings, meaning that the "Nerve Regulators" were reactivated. Sitting upright, he looked down to the open holopad on his desk, with a series of numbers typed out on the keyboard.

With an indignant shake of his head, he archived the series into the folder that he keeps in his mobile wet drive. Before the beeping sound got stuck in his head, 84 quickly opened a channel with the caller.

"What?" Man, that sounded a little ruder than intended.

Much to his dismay, not only was the caller Pearl, but also she took notice of the tone in his voice.

"Well then, sorry for bothering. I hope that I haven't interrupted whatever important business you were in."

"What is it, Pearl?"

As she stared at 84 for a minute. Calling her by her general name was not something 84 was known to do. Either she didn't notice or she was just more focused on telling him why she called him in the first place, Pearl continued.

"You have someone that's here to see you. Does an 'Alpha' sound familiar to you?"

Alpha? What was he doing here this late?

"Ok, tell him I'll be down in a bit." 84 answered, stretching his limbs from hours of immobility.

"Yeah, well make it fast. I want him out of here as soon as possible." Pearl retorted before disconnecting. Before leaving, Unit 84 took a quick look at his helmet's interface to check the time.

He slept for 5 hours, which explains why the sun hasn't risen yet. Locking his door, he made his way to the building lifts while pondering the events that took fold tonight.

84 didn't remember when these dreams began to manifest. But as time went on, they became more common and took less surrealism. It was always the same place, the same voice and the same feeling he got from it. It felt so surreal, but so realistic at the same time. And every time this happened, he experienced a new sequence of numbers play in his mind over and over again.

Eventually, he took note to write down every sequence of numbers that he came across. He sure as hell didn't know what they meant, but yet he felt as if he had to jot them down. He never understood why.

One thing he will never do, however, is tell Yellow Diamond about this.

Assuming she doesn't know everything about him by now.

Shaking himself from these thoughts, Unit 84 simply went to the lift to see what Alpha exactly wanted from him.

* * *

Alpha paced around the lobby, attempting to avoid the death glare from the concierge. Her insistent tapping on the desk continued to echo the near-empty lobby. After a bit of persuasion (Begging), the reluctant Pearl rang up the person he wished to see.

After another 10 minutes of ceaseless tapping pounding his ears, Alpha was rewarded with that dimming sound of the lift doors opening. And out came the rather disgruntled Unit 84.

Alpha took a good look at 84's new attire. "Nice new look. Guess your boss really rewards you guys well, huh?"

84 sighed, "Is there anything you need, or did you come for small talk?"

Rather than answer, Alpha stared at 84's visor as a question came across his mind. "Do you ever take your mask off?"

"What do you want, Alpha?" Came the exasperated response from 84.

"Right, straight to the point. Uhhh... well there's a vat of used coolant outside of your building that I need to throw out. My boss doesn't want it in our base anymore."

Unit 84 tilted his head to look past Alpha. Sure enough, there was a huge vat that close to blocking the main entrance to the building, if it was moved in any further.

"Okay. And, why exactly am I here?"

Alpha deadpanned. "Because I you to help me find a place to throw this out. Not to mention that its really hard to carry this myself."

Unit 84 simply placed a hand to his head. He was clearly not in the mood for this. "Okay, let me rephrase my question. Why should I help you with this?"

"Ahhh...hahaha." Alpha finally understood what he meant. He was surprisingly content with 84's refusal. "Well, how about this? Look at my left leg here and tell me what you see."

Confused by this, 84 complied regardless and looked at Alpha's leg.

"A weapon holster?"

Alpha's grin broadened wider. Despite his low tone, there was a hint of irritation in his voice. Not irritation of the question, but the kind of irritation one gets when they're reminded of something they'd rather forget. Seems as if 84 had just figured out what Alpha is trying to point out with this question "Good, now notice the lack of a weapon inside this holster. Imagine that it used to be an elegant Arc Projector." Alpha wildly gestured his hands to emphasize his description. "Gifted with such elegant modifications, only for it to be squandered by a certain Recov-"

"Alright, ALRIGHT!" Came 84's rather loud interruption. Given the trump card Alpha had just pulled on him, he gave a frustrated sigh.

"I will help and we'll dispose of this in a ... proper facility, or whatever. Does that sound good?"

"That's all I'm asking for, I mean this thing's real heavy."

"Wait, why not just get a transporter?"

"Are you serious?! You have any idea how much they charge for moving something this big?" Alpha ignored the startled expression of 84 in his rant. "I'm not gonna pay 250 crits just for a transport. I barely make enough as it is."

 _Barely have enough as it is, eh? Gee, I wonder why?_

Seeing the annoyed posture Unit 84 was giving, Alpha sighed. "Fine if it makes it any better I'll pay 50 and you'll pay the rest."

"What is this, a hand out to you? Let's just split it."

"Alright. You pay 200 and I'll pay 50."

Unit 84 only deadpanned. "I meant split it in half"

Already losing patience, Alpha yelled. "Fine, pay 100 THEN!"

Unit 84 paused at Alpha's apparent principles of basic math. "...Done."

"Perfect." Alpha clapped his hands, "Now let's get to it. Kinda would like to make it back before my boss does."

Within the next half hour, the transporter came was loaded and had set off. Securing the Vat in the cargo hold was both Alpha and Unit 84. Curious as to what location 84 had input in the transporter's map, Alpha inquired.

"So where are we going anyways?"

"Industrial sector. There's a specific facility where someone I know works there. She'll let us dump this without a problem." Unit 84 explained as he continued to balance the vat inside of the moving transport.

Sitting back and looking out of the window, Alpha pondered another question. "You sure she'll help us?"

"Already commed her when you were hailing for a transport. She'll be waiting for us." Before an awkward silence could settle in for the whole trip, Unit 84 added, "Hopefully if we're careful, Control won't have to know what happened here."

* * *

 **2 hours later.**

Yellow Diamond stared at the 2 newly arrived operatives standing in front of her. Tiger Eye stood by her right side, no doubt VERY pissed off at the cowering operative on the left.

Simply put, Yellow Diamond already found out.

Turns out, it was actually her who had conducted the inspection of the base. After finding the vat on the roof, Yellow Diamond gave Tiger Eye quite the earful on her lack of maintenance and discipline in her base. Given the fact that she had given the order to dispose of the vat, Yellow Diamond inquired on Tiger Eye during the meeting on whether or not she had done.

Coincidentally moments after hearing her explanation, Yellow Diamond received a rather angry call from one of the maintenance supervisors at the Industrial Sector. Apparently, someone had ransacked and emptied a series of containers scheduled to be delivered at one of the public districts. What really stood out was the fact that what the containers were carrying was water.

The reason that she was notified, was because that one of the workers saw an unidentifiable Recovery Unit leaving the area. Realizing the poor judgement call in relying on Alpha, Tiger Eye quickly contacted him to find out where he was. Upon learning that Unit 84 was involved, Yellow Diamond ordered the duo to report back to her office immediately. And now here they were.

"Alpha when I mentioned that you can get some help to remove the vat, I didn't mean for you to get someone from YELLOW DIAMOND'S GUARD!" Tiger Eye yelled, already startling the cowering Alpha.

"Do you both know why this feels partially degrading?" Rather than wait for an answer from the silent duo, Yellow Diamond continued. "Because right now, I feel like as if I'm a caretaker scolding some day old rocks that just popped out of an Injector."

"Is this seriously a joke? Because clearly, I'm not laughing right now."

"Alpha dragged me into this. I'm just doing it as a favor." Unit 84 explained. "According to Alpha, Tiger Eye did state that she didn't care how we got rid of it. So I'm complying with her orders effectively."

 _Why is this starting to feel like a trend now?_ Unit 84 pondered as he silently watched the death glare Yellow Diamond was giving him for his response.

"Unit 84." Yellow Diamond began with gritted teeth. "Are you really taking the piss right now?"

"No Control."

"You better not be!"

"I thought we were dumping coolant."

"Wh-We were!" Alpha insisted.

"Really?" Tiger Eye's skeptical glare piercing Alpha's gaze. _She really does not like him, does she,_ Unit 84 noted. "Well then why did maintenance find empty water strewn about in the same hatch where you guys dumped the vats?"

"WELL, THE HELL ARE YOU ASKING ME FOR?!" Alpha retorted, appearing to have regained his courage. "ASK THEM! Why would we even use those containers anyways, if we were there to dump the vat?"

"You're telling me, in fact my next question was regarding how the hell were you two even able to lift those containers." Yellow Diamond explained. The scenario was beginning to make less and less sense. " I mean, you shouldn't have be able to carry something-."

At that instant, she stopped mid-sentence and looked up as she had just realized something. Opening the Holoscreen on her desk, she began to type for a bit until addressing the confused group. "We will have to discuss this another time, Operatives. I'll have to discuss something with you Tiger Eye. You two are dismissed."

Without skipping a beat, Unit 84 simply complied to the order. On his way out, he grabbed a rather confused Alpha who simply stared at Yellow Diamond and Tiger Eye. Shaken from his stupor, he quickly tailed behind 84 in their leave of the office.

"AND REPORT TO FLUORITE, 84!" She yelled out before 84 slipped could slip out of earshot. His only response to the order was a simply wave of his had as he left the room.

With the 2 Operatives gone, Yellow Diamond turned her attention to the only occupant in the room. Fortunately, Tiger Eye had already figured that something was wrong, so Yellow Diamond can already contact the

"Computer! Open a communication channel with Prehnite. Priority 6-12-6."

At that instant, the windows surrounding the room, had tinted to the point where it would be impossible to see what was going on from outside. Tiger Eye quickly took note of what was going on, but decided to ask Yellow Diamond was up to. "We got a problem?"

While waiting for the intented recipient to respond to the communicator, Yellow Diamond turned to her companion, "We might have a breach."

* * *

 **Holy hell, this chapter was quite something to make. Some of this attributed to many issues with rewrites, editing, unsaved work being lost leading to rage-inducing revisions.**

 **Sorry if the chapter was not as long as the previous ones, but I felt that the next events in the final act would go well in the next chapter.**

 **Otherwise, I really appreciate your patience in the writing of this chapter and hope that my writing has begun to improve over the chapters. Again, constructive criticism is always appreciated.**

 **I still haven't watched the new episode of "Steven Universe" yet, but given the premise of the episode, I hope to find some interesting source material. Thanks for reading and Happy New Years.**


End file.
